Aisha, volunteer
Sumner Library

“We grew up in the apartments right across the street from the library. Ever since I can remember, my mom would take us here. We would read as many books as we could because my parents really valued education. My mother didn’t get to finish high school because the civil war in Somalia broke out. My dad’s the same. He did a little bit of college, but then he didn’t finish because he was trying to support us. They saw the library as a place where you could change your life because there are all these resources. This is where my mom filled out her taxes. She was also part of a learning circle where people got to share their stories. There was a guy named Mohammed who used to read Somali stories to us for story time.

In tenth grade I was taking an English class. I wasn’t the best writer and the teacher knew it. I was doing poorly and I felt so defeated. But then I came here and met with one of the Homework Help tutors and I was like, ‘I have this paper due next week and I really want to get a good grade on it.’ They sat and brainstormed ideas with me. When I typed up the paper, they helped me make it really concise and clear. I turned it in and the teacher was like, ‘This is one of the best papers I’ve ever read.’

By the time I was a junior, I was better at math and English so I decided I could help out as a Homework Help tutor for the freshman and middle school students who were struggling with the same things I’d struggled with. After school, I wasn’t part of any extracurricular activities, so tutoring was my extracurricular. It was a way of giving back and saying ‘This is what I benefitted from.’

I’m just so appreciative to this day, because if I didn’t come to Homework Help, I don’t think I would have learned the study habits that I needed. I was very full of pride; I didn’t want to ask for help. They made it okay for me to ask for help. Those are things I took with me when I went to college.”

Reem & Jude, patrons
Walker Library

“This is my first time at this library. We usually go to Linden Hills or the St. Louis Park one. Usually it’s for my son, for story time. He’s bilingual. Before he started daycare we spoke only Arabic at home, so I wanted him to be exposed more to other languages. The other things were to socialize and to be able to sit down in one place and listen for longer periods of time.

We’re from Syria. We came to the United States seven years ago. At that point Syria was a normal country in the Middle East. No war, nothing. My husband and I are both medical graduates from Damascus, so we came here to specialize and get all of the knowledge here. We thought that we could go back and start our own practice. But after the war started it became impossible, especially now.

I’m lucky to have my parents and siblings here. They live in California. But all my husband’s family are there. We’re worried all the time that something bad will happen, that we’re gonna lose them. It’s been a while since we last saw them. They’re not allowed to come here with the visa issues. They’ve never seen my son; we only video chat. It’s difficult, but we try to live with it.

I’m really thankful for all the people here, especially in Minnesota. Even though I’m not from here, they make me feel like I'm welcome and I really appreciate it.”

Tami, patron
Mpls Central Library

“I’m here every day. I’ve been homeless since mid-August last year. I go back to the comfy chairs, get whatever books I want and start reading. I have friends who come here too, so sometimes we’ll sit and read together. If you don’t have money, you can’t just go sit anywhere in this city. But at the library you can, and there’s no judgment passed on you.

There are a lot of homeless people who are mentally ill. I’m bipolar. Mental illness doesn’t often allow you to make much money and this town is way overpriced. A few years back I could get an apartment for $600, but not anymore. They won’t even look at you.

When I take my medicine I’m pretty good, but when I get going, I get going. Very manic. I’ve pretty much got it where I want it, but it’s taken a long time to find it in terms of the right medicine and the right living situation, which isn’t ideal yet, but it will be. To deal with this problem, I really have to be around something stable.

I’m getting into a program called Shelter Plus Care that will help me get a voucher for shelter. I also get an ARMHS worker to help me get to my appointments and then I have a case manager who oversees it all. Given my situation, these are things that I probably should have been connected with a long time ago, but I wasn’t and that’s ok. I didn’t make the right effort. But now I have and the people who have helped me have gone way above and beyond what they need to do for their jobs.”

HOM: “What do you wish people who don’t struggle with mental illness knew about it?”

“Very few mentally ill people are dangerous. We’re more scared of you than you are of us.”

Alicia, patron
Brooklyn Park Library

“We’ve been in Brooklyn Park nineteen years and we’ve been coming to this library for fifteen. I started coming when I was a new mom. We came every week for story time. My barrier is my language and story time was my school for learning English. I didn’t go to college or earn a big degree, but I resourced my education, especially the language, from the library.

I was born in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. You know about the monarch butterfly sanctuary? I’m from close to there. We have libraries, but it’s different. It’s mostly for students. You have access to books, but you can’t take copies home. Whatever you want to research, you need to write it down. We don’t have videos, nothing like that. It’s only books and not that many.

The kids love Julie, the librarian here who teaches story time. She’s been a really good influence on them. She has a gift for making them engage. It’s been a big help for me because I don’t have to push them to read. They just read. I’m really grateful for the people who work in the library. They always make me feel welcome. I think we’re really, really lucky to have them.

My kids want to be volunteers here, too. The oldest one started last summer. He started with cleaning shelves. We love this place. We feel it’s a part of us.”