Co-Creator of Libraries in Bloom, Pa Ja Yang, takes the stage to share an exciting community project she led in celebration of Hmong American Day and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May 2021. The project, Community Chords: Engagement through Music and Art, brought the community together through a shared love of music, art, and literacy!

Meet Betsy Kowal, Library Assistant in Children Services at the Appleton Public Library in Wisconsin. Betsy designs storytimes that teaches teach children to embody the power of music and connect musical elements to a culture. She hopes to break the cycle of English folklore music historically used in storytimes and ensure families that their ancestor’s music are valued and uplifted at the library.

Meet Connor Bowman, Library Associate in Youth Services at the Milwaukee Public Library in Wisconsin. For Connor’s graduate thesis, he used an equity model to audit a radio show, Wind and Rhythm. He was interested in understanding what was being programmed at concerts, specifically within wind band music, and the amount of cultural/racial representation featured. Connor shares his thesis findings and path to music librarianship.