The library, along with assistance from the department of education, played host to the International Children’s Day event to promote reading to people of all ages Monday.

April 2 is Hans Christian Andersen’s, an author famous for classics like “The Princess and the Pea” and “The Ugly Duckling,” birthday. The day is internationally known as a day to celebrate children’s literature.

The books chosen for display come from an international committee known as the United States Board on Books for Young People. This organization works together to recognize children’s books as having international importance, whether it is for where the books come from or what stories they tell about other cultures.

Zana Sueme, a staff librarian in acquisition, stated the goal of the event was to help students understand that learning about different cultures can be beneficial for growing children.

“This event is for everyone,” Sueme said, “but education students can use books like these for lesson plans and future plans to teach children about cultures and different ways to live.”

Isaac Larison and Sueme both presented books to the attendees to give a glance of how other people react to different events. Both speakers chose books about rain, but one consisted of a young girl that feared storms and the other book consisted of a boy who loved the rain.

This is the fourth year Marshall has celebrated International Children’s Day. Larison, the associate professor for the college of education, said the purchase of the books helps contribute to the newly adopted Open for All campaign.

“This really helps show that we are open to all,” Larison said. “Marshall has such a big portion of international students, and having books like these can help them feel included. Or if they are going to be teachers, they can use these books to include other international students they may teach one day.”

The event consisted of a wide range of books displayed for students to look at and interactive readings of a couple different books from the main coordinators of the event, Larison and Sueme. The students were also given the opportunity to get their photo taken in front of a green screen and decide which background promoting reading they wanted.

Sarah Ingram can be contacted at [email protected].