Libraries and Museums bridging the cultural gap

Libraries and museums have a plethora of resources. They take pride in preserving the history of the community. I think one way they could bridge the gap between demographic and cultural gaps are by interviewing former immigrants, new members of the community, and people who have lived in other areas and doing exhibits or classes on the diversity of communities. People take pride in coming to America so why not allow them to be apart of the community culture and teach us a thing or two about their native countries and how they grew up.

Libraries and museums could team up to do genealogy classes so people can learn about their family heritage. Many people relate their culture to America, but America is not called the melting pot for nothing. For all I know I could be more German than Greek even though I have a Greek last name. It would be interesting for people to learn more about where they came from than to just associate it with the town they were born in. People also can learn about other families through genealogy. It is not just about learning your family heritage, but about the history of people. Wouldn't it be cool to learn about someone of prominence in your community? I think it would be amazing to look into the backgrounds of people in Wabash. We have people who were famous singers.

One way museums or libraries could bridge the gap between cultural and demographic differences is having displays to showcase works of arts or for libraries they could display books. Many different cultures see different types of art a piece of their society. They use it to show who they are. Museums could get pictures of people, paintings, sculptures, and other types of art and take a different month of the year and do a rotation of the different cultures and demographics of the community to showcase each aspect of the community. It not only teaches people about other ways of life, but it makes people know others want to learn about their culture or where they come from. You do not need to be famous for a display.

Libraries are bridging gaps between demographic and cultural differences by offering free programs to the public. Different crafts, book clubs, or computer classes attract more than one type of person. This can allow people to meet each other and become friends through these programs.

Museums and libraries are the information center of communities. They are also the educational centers. These are two important parts of what they provide to the communities of their areas. Education of the people is important. By this I mean teaching on the culture and demographics beyond the community. Yes, the community is vital, but there is a world beyond the library district. Kids are sponges for information. If you start teaching them about the cultural and demographic gaps some of these can become smaller once these kids grow up if they learn about how to bridge them together at a young age. Kids are the future so it is important to teach them about what is going on in the world.

Libraries and museums appreciate cultural and demographic differences. This is a big part of how they can bridge the gap between people. Libraries are places where people feel safe no matter where they come from so this is a similarity across all generations and people. They tend to know the lingo of the community so they could teach other communities about dialogue of their local community. Also, teaching other languages can bridge gaps because there are always immigrants in America. People can learn a language from the library or museum and go out and be able to talk to others they normally would not in everyday life. By bridging the language gap people from different cultural and demographic areas could teach each other their customs and traditions. This could all be due to learning a new language. As I said before storytelling is a big way to spread information. This could be at story hour, a cultural meeting, or a new exhibit at a museum. Their are many ways to draw people together you just have to reach out to the community to get the job done. Inspire those who know their culture to share with the community through library and museum programs.