The community can Celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, at the township library’s inaugural Diwali Festival on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Diwali is a major religious festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs to celebrate the victory of light over darkness, where Lord Rama, an incarnation of God, defeats the demon Ravana. The third day of the five-day event – Oct. 24 this year – is the day most commonly celebrated. Diwali is celebrated on the 15th day of Kartik according to the Hindu Lunar calendar.
The library’s festival celebration will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. in its lower conference center and will feature a brief presentation further explaining the holiday.
“One of the missions of the Cherry Hill library is to celebrate diversity, inclusion and equity and we are trying to reach as many of those in our population as possible,” explained Erica Moon, adult services and reference librarian. “ … Now, after the pandemic, we’re trying to bring back other festivals honoring different cultures.”
To prepare for Diwali, librarians spoke with Indians in the English Language Learner programs who celebrate the festival and visited Indian supermarkets to speak with people about foods eaten during the celebration.
“It’s important that our patrons see themselves not only in our collection, but in our programming,” said Michelle Yeager, outreach and diversity librarian.
“We do believe that in order to experience something that somebody else experiences increases your appreciation and understanding of another culture,” Moon noted.
The library event will include food samplings and Bollywood dancing led by Nadia Neubert, who has trained in Indian classical dance for 30 years. There will also be henna ink stencils and crafts, such as a mandala as part of a mural for the library.
“In the world that we’re in now, where we just see these polar extremes of love or hate or acceptance, I think it’s really important that the library reaches those targeted populations and the library does something for the community that promotes love and acceptance,” said Suzanne Fox, the library’s marketing and public relations executive.
The Diwali event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Registration is required, but the event is free. To register, visit chplnj.org.
