By Cristen Dando, Whitehall Public Library, Children’s Library Outreach Coordinator
As the children’s outreach coordinator at Whitehall Public Library, I have the opportunity to meet neighbors of all ages, cultures, and life experiences. I value open-mindedness and love learning about the people in our community.
Originally from Pennsylvania, I began my career as a pharmacist on a Cherokee reservation. I was interested in public health, especially Native American health, after doing a rotation on the Navajo reservation in my last year of school. Working within the Native American health system was enlightening. Unlike our American system of siloed providers, the Native American health system was all under one roof. This allowed patients and providers to know each other better, leading to more holistic care. I realized the benefit of having a community that was so connected.
Continuing to pursue employment in support of the community, I decided to apply for jobs in libraries. I’ve always been passionate about life-long learning, and I was used to working with the public. After working for several years at a library in North Carolina, my family moved to Pittsburgh where I found my current position at the Whitehall Public Library.
When I arrived, I was thrilled to learn that my predecessors had established a robust outreach program. The library had strong partnerships with many local agencies. I love bringing enriching programs to childcare centers, after school programs, and summer camps. I get to plan and lead a wide variety of activities working with toddlers through eighth graders. Sometimes partners have specific requests for programming, but most of the time I get to find and create curriculum that inspire kids to create and explore. 
I work with several different programs at South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM). I bring story time to the littlest learners in SHIM’s Early Childhood Program, engaging preschoolers in reading and discussions. I visit SHIM’s After School program monthly with Early Learners projects for 1st-5th grade students and also present the Girls Who Code curriculum to SHIM’s 4th and 5th grade girls in After School. This unique program, established by a nonprofit driven to close the gender gap in tech, provides hands on activities that spark interest in STEM. We explore the basic concepts of coding, including terminology and its applications. At the end of the school year, UPMC Women in IT join us to talk about career options. I also bring weekly programming to SHIM’s summer camp, focusing on different age groups each week.
To engage parents in their children’s learning, we also partner with SHIM to host family engagement nights. These events help families feel more comfortable accessing the library and encourage students to explore all that the library has to offer.
No one tells you, but when you’re a kids’ librarian, you feel like a rockstar. When I walk into a program, kids get excited! I feel grateful to work with such enthusiastic learners.
One thing I focus on when preparing activities for students is representation. When I come to SHIM, I want the students to recognize themselves in the pages of the books I bring. I look for books whose characters have diverse ethnicities and include women from different backgrounds. I also use repetition and music incorporation to help kids learn better. This is especially true for kids learning English as a second language.
Whitehall Public Library is a great resource for diverse books and even created anthologies sharing stories from Whitehall residents of different cultural backgrounds. We also have an American Girl Doll collection, in partnership with Literacy Pittsburgh, that includes dolls in traditional clothing accompanied by stories from community members. These dolls represent South Sudan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Morrocco, Turkey, and the Karen state of Mynmar. Whitehall Public Library also produced a Welcoming Neighbors Alliance slide deck, to help the community learn about the rich diversity of our neighbors and the refugee experience.
Our library also offers one-on-one appointments to help people look for a job, build a resume, and fill out online applications. The library helps in many ways, and I find that lots of our neighbors are unaware of these additional services. I think it can be especially surprising for our newer neighbors arriving from countries that didn’t have libraries.
I believe that libraries should be community centers. They are welcoming to everyone and encourage life-long learning. In a world with few free places to gather, the library is a safe neutral space. It’s not just about the books and materials in the library, it’s about the people utilizing services and gathering with their neighbors. I subscribe to the Mr. Rogers’ mindset that we are all neighbors and that our community is stronger when we learn about who lives here.
If you’re looking to connect more with your South Hills neighbors, I encourage you to check out all that the Whitehall Public Library has to offer. Whether you’re a parent, a student, a retiree, or just a curious resident, we invite you to come and explore!
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