Transportation hurdles and a lack of acculturation to American libraries became the initial challenge. Since many of the initial participants were new refugees, they did not have the ability to drive to conversation circles at a library location. Partnering with a local Mosque (located across the street from a local university and near public transportation options) provided the opportunity for English-language learners to gather at their place of worship.

Buy in from the Iman at the Mosque is critical. Make sure all participants understand that the conversation circles are always open to Non-Muslims. Understand that we all will be respectful to each other and will learn along-side each other. Volunteer college students (from the University across the street from the mosque) help facilitate the conversation circles and this is an important factor in creating community engagement.

We currently have people participating in the Conversation Circles from all over the world. They have built a bond and many have participated in other library programs including but not limited to “Author Talks” and the NEA’s Big Read. By having people who speak Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Punjabi and Spanish learn together, they must speak to each other in English as it is the common denominator.