There
is always the thrill we get upon opening a book and finding a kindred spirit
who lies within. Sipping ginger tea and trying taste-tempting delicacies
from another world – the world of Golam’s heritage, Bangladesh – I found
I, too, had found a kindred spirit in this kindly, soft-spoken, highly
intelligent man who has found that very special niche as head of Youth
Services at our library. What single word can I use to capture Golam Kibreah?
Perhaps I can say that the man is “a gem.”
Beginnings. They make us what we are, they shape our lives, and often they direct us along the paths that line our future lives. A single question to this man became the beginning of a journey with him to his largely unseen, unknown world in a place called Bangladesh. On the highly indented Bay of Bengal lies his small country, spread in an inverted “U” around the bay, but small enough to be squeezed into an area smaller than Iowa. With a few words, I had opened a drawer of his memory. Embroidered with stories and memories, he told of a life, a way of living, a culture far different than ours. I found my heart overflowing. I had words enough to fill a book, heartbreaking in parts, of the beginnings of this new country (in 1971), filled with Golam’s sharply etched vignettes of “how it was.”
For now – until Golam is persuaded to weave that mystic spell for us at the Potpourri Series – space allows me only to give you a touch of this past and the flow that eventually brought him to Park Forest. Muslim families are close and caring. His parents died young, but his father had dreams for his many children, dreams that encompassed seeing that they all had degrees in higher education. When the father’s last words to a brother, much older than Golan, were to see that all the children received a college education, this boy agreed, sacrificing his own future to assure that the promise made to his father became a reality. The family feeling is very strong in Golam’s world.
And so, a brilliant young man named Golam Kibreah, ultimately a professor of philosophy in Bangladesh, rode on the dreams of his father. With a determination to surmount the roadblocks thrown from every direction, his drive to bring a growing family of his own to Indiana (where his 4th oldest brother had found a home) came to be. Clerical work at the I.U. library led to a Masters in Library Science in Bloomington. After being surrounded by siblings in his youth, and still feeling that we all have “that inner child within us aching to come out,” it was a natural for him to be hired as a children’s librarian in an Indianapolis suburb in 1985. He has never looked back.
Only 5 months ago he came to us -- this man bursting with energy, vitality, warmth and a wealth of new ideas – with his goal to bring children of all ages into our library and infusing in even the youngest the love of books and making the love of reading one of the best parts of their lives. He’s new to Park Forest and Olympia Fields, but he is actively asking questions, studying the needs and future needs of both communities, and how best to inspire children – from babies to young adults – to use our library. He has a wide net of possibilities in mind. He is in the beginning stages of pulling in a teen advisory board – teens telling him what books they would like to read and programs that they want. O! The ideas he has for teens are tremendous! Providing tutoring services for children – perhaps using our vast resource of retired teachers who have so much to give - is being looked into. He offers a wealth of book lists - for guys only, for teens, for moms, for every age – and he has THE best ideas for holiday books for one and all. Do come in to see him for the best in ideas for youth. And don’t let your kids miss the story time sessions that he does in his unique style.
One of his
favorite poets, Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1913,
has said: “The world speaks to me in pictures, my soul answers in music.”
These could be Golam’s words. Part musician of a native instrument, part
amateur magician, he is eager to delight children. He is also a man who
is wonderfully open to sharing his culture, and the folktales he knows
so well, with us all. Let us all welcome this many-faceted and wonderful
man to our library. I am sure you too will find – as I have already – that
you will have taken him to your heart.
Mr. Kibreah has prepared a list of good books to read
aloud to children.
You can find the list HERE.