This weekend I had at least 50 errands to run. I visited a variety of stores (home improvement, grocery, pet, clothing, furniture, you name it, I was there) and there was one recurring theme throughout. Can you guess what that would be? Yep, you bet, Christmas. At one store, as I waited in line, I listened to the cashier talk to everyone about their Christmas plans and I began to dread my turn in the hot seat.
You see, I don’t celebrate Christmas and I would bet that I am not the only one in my community who abstains. Christmas is everywhere right now. Decorations, music, scents, advertisements, and conversations abound. For me and my family, it can be a difficult time of year to go out and do things in the world. For the most part, we can ignore the Christmas trappings or enjoy some, like all the lights. But sometimes when people put my family, including the kids (all under 10) on the spot by asking questions about Santa, etc., it is impossible to ignore. At best these conversations are annoying and at worst they are alienating.
As the Christmas season nears, I implore you to please remember the impression that your library decorations, displays, programs and even chit-chat or salutations make on your community members. Libraries should be welcoming to the entire community, no one who walks through the door should be made to feel uncomfortable.
Be tasteful, be discreet, and be respectful. Your community is diverse and many people will appreciate an absence of Christmas or Christmas-lite, I promise.
Photo by the author.
Michelle Peltier
Thank you for this post. It has made me look at the storytimes I have planned for December and think, “Is this inclusive to all?” I did not like my answer to that question, and will be changing some of my plans. I value your perspective and hope that I can make my piece of my library (more) comfortable for everyone. Thanks again.
Sarah
I had this exact sort of conversation with my director recently. He was asking how I wanted to decorate the children’s area for the holidays and I said I did not want to decorate. I got a weird look but honestly, it is nice to visit some place NOT decked out to the nines for the holidays. I love Christmas and excitedly celebrate myself but do not feel the need to press that onto my community.
Jennifer
I try to do more seasonal (snow, hibernation) and less holiday-specific stuff, but it’s kind of pointless in my town, since the giant life-size Santa’s toyshop, reindeer and sleigh, and manger scene is in the square directly across from the library and the library itself houses 20+ Christmas Card paintings. Santa comes to our community room in the library and is heralded by filling the entire lobby with Christmas trees, decorated by elementary school kids, followed by a tree-lighting ceremony in the square, And then there’s the huge Christmas parade, which people watch out the library windows. We are the Christmas Card town. Not my thing, but I live with it. So far we haven’t played Christmas music in the library…YET.
Renee
I do the same as Jennifer. We decorate with snow and winter in our Children’s Library but also put up the seasonal book displays for Christmas, Hanukkah (very early this year), and Kwanzaa. I feel uncomfortable doing any story times about Santa for the same reason of this original post. Though, will all that, yes we still have a Xmas tree with lights at our desk.
Jennifer
The children’s area has mostly snow decorations (and all the umpteen Christmas books on display) but honestly it’s mostly because I’m lazy and don’t want to have to redecorate in January. I do have some Kwanzaa and Hanukkah books but they don’t circulate. I keep them in case anybody ever wants them though! We do holiday-themed programs – I was given firm instructions that all (mainstream) holidays be celebrated. Other staff spray holiday decorations around the circulation desk, adult displays, etc. And, like I said, our lobby contains multiple trees with decorations anyways. I wouldn’t do it this way if I was in a different community though and it’s not my personal preference.
Kelly Doolittle
Thank you for this post. It is a good reminder of why we are careful with what we advertise here at the library. I work in a very inclusive college town, so thankfully, I don’t have a director or supervisor urging/requiring us to celebrate any one holiday, but we do try to hit them all in our book displays so folks who want to can come in and get a wonderful book that helps them celebrate their cultural holidays with their children. I did have one supervisor (now retired) who mourned the omission of Christmas in our decorating and programming! I make it a point, though, to not push the holidays in my programming for young ones. I do mention that some folks celebrate this or that holiday, then touch on things they might see, hear and smell as they go about their lives, (without mentioning any religious deities!) What I do try to promote in my themes this time of year are the sometimes forgotten meanings behind most of these holidays, which are peace, gratitude and love. I find that people respond very positively to that!
Susan
Thank you for bring this topic up! I am always amazed when school personnel in the can not do ANYTHING to acknowledge Halloween because it promotes ‘worship of satan’, but we can throw all the Christmas we want at the kids. I did hibernation in December and snow in January. I always felt that making sure to give ‘equal time’ to Kwanzaa and Hanukkah is disingenuous and demeaning to those who celebrate none of them.
Now I focus on lighting up the night in December and January. Regardless of our beliefs, everyone experiences solstice.
Julie
We stick with winter, snowflakes and last year an amazingly beautiful display of white birch trees and black silhouettes of deer with bright red cardinals scattered in the trees that stayed up for months (first with colored leaves, then bare and finally with green leaves and robins added). The most amazing part was the whole thing was done with the ends of 2 rolls of paper left from summer projects, black markers and scraps of construction paper.
Our community is too diverse for me ever to say “Merry Christmas” to anyone who doesn’t say it to me first.
Renee
Bringing up the topic of Halloween: What do other public libraries do about that holiday? Do you decorate or have Halloween programs?