56572 in the Twin Cities Library Limelight

Faces of Change Immigration Exhibit

A Cambodian man who is an elder for Vietnamese in his community. Two Bosnian brothers. A retired dairy farmer who now assists new immigrants. A Somali businessman. An Hispanic man who works for Head Start. A police chief for whom language barriers are now part of the job. A 13-year-old who was born and raised in Minnesota by Laotian parents.

"The Faces of Change," a traveling exhibit on view at eight suburban Hennepin County libraries through January, illustrates through the personal stories of immigrants in one community how immigration can be a challenge and a force for positive change.

The photo and essay exhibit document the impact of immigration in Pelican Rapids, Minn., which has experienced a large influx of refugees in the past decade. The exhibit also depicts the changes experienced by the immigrants who moved into the community.

"'The Faces of Change' tells a universal story," said Pamela Westby, former director of the Pelican Rapids Public Library. "Every community has to deal with change. The stories of these immigrants and the people who helped them put human beings inside the statistics."

According to the Minnesota Dept. of Education, the number of public school students with limited English proficiency continues to grow throughout suburban Hennepin County.

The exhibit was created by writer Joan Jarvis Ellison and photographer Mel Zierke. Every month, the exhibit will be at a different Hennepin County location. The exhibit will be open during the libraries' regular open hours.

• June - Brookdale Library, 6125 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center
• July - Augsburg Park Library, 7100 Nicollet Ave., Richfield
• August - Golden Valley Library, 830 Winnetka Ave. N.
• September - Oxboro Library, 8801 Portland Ave. S., Bloomington
• October - St. Louis Park Library, 3240 Library Lane
• November - Eden Prairie Library, 565 Prairie Center Dr.
• December - Edina Library, 5280 Grandview Square
• January - Ridgedale Library, 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka

The Hennepin County Library collection includes books and other materials in 10 languages in addition to English: Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, French, Hmong, Laotian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The libraries hosting the exhibit offer collections of materials in languages other than English.

Some of the libraries are featuring the exhibit in conjunction with other multicultural programs, such as a Somali Book Festival to be held in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Commission at the Eden Prairie Library in November, and a talk by Ellison, author of a book also titled "The Faces of Change," at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Edina Library. www.hclib.org