Photos by Sanadra Whitehead

From left to right, librarians, Jenny Wegener, Islamic Resource Center and Keri Whitmore, assistant director of Franklin Public Library collaborating on their second family event to learn more about the holy month of Ramadan and Eid.

“We’re hoping to make this something we do every year, either for Ramadan or for Eid,” Whitmore said. “We have a really great partnership and I love working with Jenny. The MWC will bring a slew of volunteers to help with the crafts at each table.”

“I have to commend the Franklin Public Library,” said IRC librarian Wegener in an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “They’ve been buying books in Arabic and Muslim-centric books that serve their community. They’ve been great about that.” Franklin has one of the biggest and fastest-growing Muslim communities in Wisconsin.

Wegener has been able to help in that effort. “A lot of the sources public libraries use to acquire books don’t always carry these specialized books. I’ve been able to share some of the places we buy from.”

“Because we have a large Muslim population here, on a day-to-day basis, we’re interacting with our Muslim neighbors,” Whitmore said. “Those interactions are always positive. I love our Muslim community. They are huge library users and big supporters of our library, which always makes me extremely happy.”

On Sunday, Feb Franklin Public Library hosts “Moon and Stars: Ramadan Together” for all ages to enjoy a variety of holiday craft making.

“We’ll also bring posters with information about Islam,” said IRC librarian Jenny Wegener. “MWC board members will be there to explain and answer questions. And we’ll have some Muslim holiday foods for people to try.”

Wegener also plans to bring booklists about Islam and related topics she has been curating. MWC produced two brochures of curated booklists that will be available at the Ramadan Event: “Empowering Muslim Girls” and “Black and Muslim.” 

Wegener hopes the booklists “will help patrons find good books they might enjoy reading and that librarians can use them for collection development,” she said. “The mission of the Muslim Women’s Coalition has always been to educate.”

The Ramadan celebration will be held from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Fadrow Room at Franklin Public Library, 9151 W. Loomis Rd., Franklin. Please register here.

MWC and Franklin Public Library’s strong partnership

More than 215 adults and children attended Eid: A Celebration for All Ages last April at the Franklin Public Library. MWC’s and Franklin Public Library’s first collaborative event was dreamed up and made a reality by librarians from each organization— Whitmore of Franklin Public Library and Jenny Wegener, librarian at the Islamic Resource Center in Greenfield. 

They have been talking together and planning ever since. 

“We’re hoping to make this something we do every year, either for Ramadan or for Eid,” Whitmore said. “We have a really great partnership and I love working with Jenny. The MWC will bring a slew of volunteers to help with the crafts at each table.”

“I have to commend the Franklin Public Library,” said IRC librarian Wegener in an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal. “They’ve been buying books in Arabic and Muslim-centric books that serve their community. They’ve been great about that.” Franklin has one of the biggest and fastest-growing Muslim communities in Wisconsin.

Wegener has been able to help in that effort. “A lot of the sources public libraries use to acquire books don’t always carry these specialized books. I’ve been able to share some of the places we buy from.”

“Because we have a large Muslim population here, on a day-to-day basis, we’re interacting with our Muslim neighbors,” Whitmore said. “Those interactions are always positive. I love our Muslim community. They are huge library users and big supporters of our library, which always makes me extremely happy.”

When Muslims and others came to the library last April for the Eid event, “it was really heartwarming and one of the biggest highlights of my year,” Whitmore added. “It was awesome to see people walking in and greeting and hugging each other. The sense of community was overwhelming in a very positive way.

“It made me feel really good to be able to provide the space and the opportunity for them to gather here at the library and know that they are part of our community.

“It was also great seeing non-Muslim people there, too. I hope they were as infected with that sense of community and love as I was,” she said.

“I’m hoping we can continue to expand our partnerships with other groups as well,” Whitmore said, noting that the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance held an event at the Franklin Library last year. “We’re always open to providing a space for all of our community members and to host programs all our community can learn from. I think that’s especially important right now.”

Library connections further MWC’s mission

“We do so much outreach,” Wegener said. “It’s always great to be out and let people know about our organization. Without it, they may not know we exist. And it’s always better if you meet someone in person. They are much more apt to come by the IRC if they get that personal invitation.

“We have so many wonderful things,” she continued. “The Muslim Women’s Coalition serves a wide variety of people, Muslim and non-Muslim, and it runs the IRC. Our lending library has a wide variety of books—some about Islam for people who are interested in learning more, some comparative religion, history, cookbooks, Muslim parenting—all sorts of things. Dearest to my heart are the children’s books, which allow kids to read about characters who share their same faith, who may look like them or who are dealing with some of the same challenges they might face, like fasting for the first time, for example.

The Islamic Resource Center library is a public lending library and the catalog is always being updated for new adult and childrens books.

“And we love to be out in the community and introduce ourselves,” Wegener added. “We are so grateful to Franklin for collaborating with us.”

MWC has a history of collaboration between its Islamic Resource Center library and other libraries. It worked with the Milwaukee Public Library, Salam School Athletics and Boswell Book Company to host author Hena Khan for her launch of a graphic novel “We Are Big Time,” loosely based on Salam School’s 2018-19 girls basketball team, the Salam Stars. MWC founder Janan Najeeb facilitated a talk in MPL’s Centennial Hall with the author, coach and players.

Milwaukee Public Library and MWC collaborated in 2018 to spotlight Arab American Heritage Month at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Street Library.