The Waltham Public Library Celebrates Haitian Heritage Month
Marc Julien loves the Waltham Public Library. A native of Haiti, he has been living for twenty six years in the United States.
“The library is perfect for me. Waltham library has really interesting French books and Spanish books. There are computers for free. Everybody is nice, too. For me, it’s the best library that I know in Massachusetts. There is full service, seven days a week.
People keep you inside the library because they are nice. Everywhere I go; any state, any country…the first thing I look for is the library and the church. The staff at the Waltham Public Library are open to everybody”.
Dans une proclamation en date du 1er mai 2011, le gouverneur Deval Patrick déclare le mois de Mai “Mois de l’héritage Haïtien” dans le Massachusetts et demande aux résidents de cet état de participer à toutes les activités socio-culturelles de célébration qui y seront organisées.
On the 1st of May 2011, governor Deval Patrick declared the month of May, Haitian Heritage Month in Massachusetts. He asked the residents of this state to participate in all of the cultural and social events that have been organized to celebrate this special occasion.
Massachusetts has the third largest Haitian population in the United States and is home to an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 Haitians. Haitian Heritage Month has been celebrated in Massachusetts since 1999. We have a display on the first floor of the library in the fiction room to honor this celebration. For more information, see
href=”http://”>ww.hauinc.org. and
haitianheritagemonth.net
Here are some sample titles from the Haitian Heritage Month display:
The Company of Heaven: Stories from Haiti by Marilene Phipps-Kettlewell 2010.
Call number: Phipps-Kettlewell, M.
Told rather than “written,” Phipps-Kettlewell’s tales are portraits of Haitian life.
Haitian Novelists: Edwidge Danticat, Josaphat-Robert Large, Jacques Roumain, Gary Klang, Louis-Phillippe Dalembert, Dany Laferriere
Call number: 840.9972 HAI 2010 The online edition of this book is at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Haitian_novelists
Theatre In Haiti: Haitian Dramatists and Playwrights, Felix Morisseau-Leroy, Josaphat-Robert Large, Gary Klang, Leon Laleau, Franketienne
Call number 840.9972 THE 201. The online edition of this book is at
<a href=”http://”>http://booksllc.net/?q=Category:Theatre%5Fin%5FHaiti.
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest Of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure The World by Tracy Kidder
Call number: 610.92/FARMER, P./Kidder
A Massachusetts native who has been working in Haiti since 1982, Farmer founded Zanmi Lasante (Creole for Partners in Health), a nongovernmental organization that is the only health-care provider for hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers in the Plateau Central. 
These books are on display in the fiction room on the first floor of the library.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Waltham Public Library, we have partnered with the French Library and Cultural Center of Boston. The French Cultural Center is the premiere cultural organization in Boston dedicated to the promotion of French language, Francophone cultures and Franco-American Friendship. They are the largest institution of its kind in New England. 
These materials are in French and Creole and include adult and children’s titles. Please come to the Reference department and take a look! They are shelved with the French language materials. Some of the titles we have enjoyed from the French Library and Cultural Center Include:
Les Mysteres Du Vaudou/Laennec Hurbon (The Mysteries of Voodoo) 
un imaginaire riche et complexe.
Des origines africaines, à son implantation à Haïti, l’histoire de la religion vaudou se confond avec l’esclavage et les répressions de toute sorte.
Non seulement il semble indéracinable parce qu’il s’adapte aux religions chrétiennes, et détourne à son profit les symboles de ses pires ennemis, mais il demeure une source d’inspiration pour les peintres et les artistes. La collection découvertes gallimard offre ainsi au lecteur curieux une description des différents rites, des cultes des morts, et des productions artistiques riches en couleurs d’un imaginaire flamboyant.
Pomme De Terre/Sylvie Tardew; Photographies De Francoise Nicol
Malgré son grand âge, la pomme de terre n’a pas pris une ride. Bonne pour la santé comme pour les papilles, la pomme de terre se décline de mille et une façons. Cuite au four, frite ou sautée, préparée en salade, en soupe, en gratin ou bien en plat plus sophistiqué, la pomme de terre endosse tour à tour la robe des champs, de soirée… ou de frivolité ! Sylvie Tardrew nous dévoile toutes les facettes de cet incontournable tubercule tubercule, avec des recettes originales, salées et sucrées, sans oublier les plus classiques
Balzac Et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise: Roman/Dai Sijie (Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress) Ce livre raconte le parcours de deux jeunes réactionnaires en rééducation en chine rouge, sous le pouvoir du président Mao. Ils font la connaissance de la fille du tailleur de la montagne, Le Phénix du Ciel. Cette fille, la Petite Tailleuse, est passionnée par les contes que lui raconte les jeunes garcons Luo et Dai. Ces deuz derniers ont pour objectif de cambrioler des livres interdits dans le but d’éduquer la Petite Tailleuse pour qu’elle ne soit plus une simple montagnard
Shenzen /Scenario Et Dessins De Guy Delisle: de Guy Delisle, auteur Canadien français venu du film d’animation. Il a accompli deux missions de longue durée en Asie pour des studios d’animation européens. Son travail consistait à superviser la réalisation par des équipes d’animateurs chinoises et nord-coréennes, des images de dessins animés produits par les studios européens. Guy Delisle a rassemblé ses impressions de Chine et de Corée du nord en deux albums, « Shenzhen » et « Pyongyang », mélanges d’étonnement et de distance ironique. Les images de ces deux opus publiés par L’Association composent la matière première de l’exposition que produit le CREA.
The library subscribes to Haiti Progres: Le Journal Qui Offre Un Alternative.
haitiprogres.com This weekly newspaper keeps you up to date on all things Haitian in the United States, Port Au Prince and all over the world.
This journal can be found in the French collection in the Reference room of the library.
Key Dates to Remember During Haitian Heritage Month:
May 1st Labor and Agriculture Day.
May 15-18, 1803 Traditional rivals Jean-Jacques Dessalines, leader of the blacks and Alexandre Petion, leader of the mulattos met in the city of Arcahaie and agreed to fight as a united front against Napoleon Bonaparte’s colonial army. This pact sealed the fate of the French rule in Haiti and led to the creation of the first Black Republic in the world in 1804.
May 18, 1803 Creation of the official blue and red Haitian flag by the Haitian leaders at the end of the congress of Arcahaie.
May 20, 1743 Haitian General Toussaint Louverture, later known as the first of the Blacks, was born. Between 1771 and 1803, he successfully initiated the first organized large-scale military battles against the Spanish, British and French armies. Although he was ultimately captured in an ambush and died in France, his vision and actions paved the way for his generals to successfully lead the country to independence.
Last Sunday of May Haitian Mother’s Day Celebration.
Piti, piti, wazo fe nich li. This Haitian proverb means that “little by little, the bird makes its nest.” This month we celebrate the rebuilding of Haiti. We celebrate the Haitian community in Waltham.
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