Bangor schools were the first in the state to receive a donation of 900 books that promote a sense of welcoming, belonging and acceptance of immigrant students.
Each Bangor school received a portion of the books, called Welcoming Libraries, which tell stories of immigration and acceptance. The collection was curated by the Portland-based nonprofit I’m Your Neighbor Books.
The Bangor School Department was chosen as the first to receive Welcoming Libraries last month to recognize the city becoming an official refugee resettlement area, according to Kirsten Cappy, executive director of I’m Your Neighbor Books.
The book donation is the latest way Bangor schools are working to become more inclusive and accepting of students and staff from all backgrounds, regardless of their nationality, race, religion or sexuality. Though the exact number of immigrant students in Bangor schools is uncertain, Bangor Superintendent James Tager said the school department has students from 53 different countries.
“These libraries become beacons of belonging, fostering a sense of unity and understanding,” Tager said. “Embracing our shared stories, from all of the countries represented by our families, allows us to build bridges that transcend borders within our school community.”
Bangor has welcomed more than two dozen refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America since October 2022, according to Catholic Charities Maine. Statewide, more than 1,000 asylum seekers, primarily from Africa, arrived in Maine in 2023.
“As Maine welcomes more immigrant and New American families, it’s incredibly important that students see themselves and their families represented in the books in their school libraries,” Pender Makin, education commissioner for the Maine Department of Education, said. “These books also encourage all students to create a welcoming environment and appreciate the incredible diversity in our communities and nation.”
Representatives from the Maine Department of Education, I’m Your Neighbor Books, the Maine Community Foundation, and the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation announced the donation last month at Bangor’s Fairmount School, which teaches fourth and fifth grades.
A $25,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation and a $10,000 Community Building grant from the Maine Community Foundation funded the donation.
The books, which are age appropriate for each school, are displayed in libraries on Maine-made carts engraved with the invitation, “Read to Welcome. Read to Belong.”
The Bangor School Department formed a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Subcommittee after reports about racism at Bangor High became public in 2020.
Since the subcommittee’s formation, the department partnered with the University of Maine to tackle racism and other forms of discrimination in Bangor schools and received recommendations from an advisory committee for how to be more inclusive.
The Maine DOE and I’m Your Neighbor Books also launched a new PINE Project last month that supplies 16 Maine schools with free Welcoming Libraries.
Teachers from those schools will participate in workshops that serve as a guide for how to use the cart’s books to foster social emotional learning and the themes in the books.
