Librarian Ali Turner receives Human Rights Award

The Eden Prairie Library is a natural draw to anyone in the community – a large, bright building teeming with resources.Connecting the youth and families in the community to those resources is where Ali Turner comes in.

 Most recently, Turner, the senior youth services librarian in Eden Prairie, has worked with mostly Somali teenagers to produce a DVD that shares their story. The DVD is a candid look at some the issues the teens have faced.

For her work reaching out to youth and immigrants in the community, Turner has been named a recipient of the Human Rights Award, given annually by the city’s Human Rights and Diversity Commission.

Molly Koivumaki, manager of the city’s Housing and Community Services division, nominated Turner. Koivumaki said she was impressed by how Turner “addresses challenges head on.”

Turner, for her part, is most proud of the students she’s worked with.

“They were asking really hard questions and telling stories,” she said.

She said it’s been an honor to have an opportunity to get to know so many people and learn about other cultures.

The award for the work of the DVD “really belongs to a few of the students who really took the leadership role in making it happen.”

Solution Finders

Turner has been working in Eden Prairie for six years; she’s been with the Hennepin County Library system for about 15 years.

“My area of focus is service to children and families,” she said, adding, that includes age ranges from 1 to 18.

“It’s a broad scope.”

When it comes to planning programs that teens will respond to, she notes, “We work with them.”

The perfect example of that would be the making of the Solution Finders DVD.

Since the first day she came to Eden Prairie, “I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Somali community,” Turner noted.

The library has received targeted funding “to really reach out and connect with our new immigrant customers.”

For a couple of years, Turner had visited a group of students at Eden Prairie High School called Solution Finders. The group was started by Sgt. Randy Thompson, as a way to address some issues that had come up among mostly Somali teens. Last year, Turner offered those involved with the group a new outlet, a way to take their message out to the greater community.

Students spent a year planning the main focus of the DVD and honing their interview technique. The finished product was unveiled last fall, a 21-minute film.

Turner said they did the project to “enhance the media literacy of teens and give them an opportunity to tell their story.”The other driving force for her is “the conversations that I’ve seen in the community,” she said.

The DVD was shown last fall at an event co-sponsored by the Eden Prairie Human Rights and Diversity Commission. It included the “Faces of Change” photo exhibit, which looks at the immigrant community in Pelican Rapids.

Eden Prairie has seen its own influx over the years, mostly of Somali families entering the area. According to the DVD they produced, the Somali population makes up about 5 percent of the High School. City estimates show that there are about 4,000 Somalis living in Eden Prairie.

Koivumaki said that Turner worked really hard to make that “Faces of Change” event happen.

“There was a wonderful discussion afterwards, that people just naturally fell into,” she added.

Koivumaki described the atmosphere as “very warm and open – such a wonderful environment to have a discussion about immigration and how it impacts life in Eden Prairie.”

“I credit a lot of that warmth and that welcoming atmosphere to Ali.”

Rukia Abdi, one of the students involved in the DVD, said Turner was very enthusiastic about the project and getting it done, and “… just having the community understand each other.”

Understanding

Koivumaki was particularly struck by how Turner handled behavior problems that cropped up at the library.

While others might resolve it by giving teens who are acting out trespassing notices or kicking them out, “Ali took a different turn.”

She held people accountable, but still encouraged them to participate in the resource that the library is, said Koivumaki. Turner did that by setting boundaries, understanding ground rules and working with parents. Koivumaki said she liked the way Turner went after difficult situations and resolved them “… keeping people’s dignity in check.”

Over the years, Turner said she’s noticed a change at the library.

Across the board, she said they’ve seen a lot more families visiting.

“That’s really our goal.”

“We want people to understand that all members of the community are welcome here and that everybody in the family is welcome,” she said.

The Eden Prairie News is profiling the recipients of this year’s Human Rights Award, recently named by the Human Rights and Diversity Commission. Recipients in the individual category include: Basil and Mary Jane Wissner, and Ali Turner. In the nonprofit category, recipients include: Pax Christi Catholic Community, Prairie Lutheran Church, Eden Prairie Methodist Church and American Muslim Community Center.

Previously we profiled Thunder Communications Design creator Jody Russell, the business category winner and the Wissners. This week, we profile Ali Turner, senior youth services librarian with Hennepin County Libraries.