In the northern hemisphere, during long dark winter nights, diverse festivals provide many opportunities to kindle hope by welcoming light. We'll enjoy the library lit for many winter celebrations and highlight some of them by sharing stories of how some families, cultures and religions welcome light and keep hope alive with their candles, lanterns, lit trees, menorahs, kinaras, and strings of lights aglow.

In the northern hemisphere, during long dark winter nights, diverse festivals provide many opportunities to kindle hope by welcoming light. We'll enjoy the library lit for many winter celebrations and highlight some of them by sharing stories of how some families, cultures and religions welcome light and keep hope alive with their candles, lanterns, lit trees, menorahs, kinaras, and strings of lights aglow.

Room H/Children’s Diversity & Justice Library. Inside the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN.

Please join us at the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library on Saturday November 22 for an opportunity to thoughtfully engage with Thanksgiving.

At 10:30am in the CDJL we will share at least three stories written by Native authors and centering the voices of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples to help us rethink what we’ve been told and taught about Thanksgiving.

After storytime you will have the chance to participate in some activities such as exploring the  Native Land Digital interactive online map to learn about who's land we are inhabiting, decorating land acknowledgement table tents for your Thanksgiving table and creating thank you notes for anyone who has helped you.

If you can’t join us in person, enjoy these resources for books to read with kids and resources for how to engage with the themes of Thanksgiving, including some great educational material for us adults: https://cdjlibrary.org/news/2025/11/14/rethinking-traditional-thanksgiving-centering-native-american-voices-with-events-and-resources

Please join us at 1pm in the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library on Sunday February 4 for stories featuring birthdays as well as games and activities that celebrate everyone’s birthday.

Every day, all around the world, in all kinds of settings, people celebrate birthdays. Sometimes they’re able to celebrate together, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes the gathering includes chosen family, sometimes birth families, sometimes friends or community, and sometimes all of them together. All birthdays that are celebrated include cultural rituals, but they may not be the same as the ones your culture observes. Some birthdays include presents we wish for, some include presents we didn’t know we needed and all include the present of being alive!

This month, the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church that hosts the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library is celebrating its 75th birthday! A birthday that includes having witnessed many important aspects of diversity and justice in our community including being the first predominantly white church to integrate in Knoxville, TN, the first church in Knox County, Tennessee to perform a federally recognized same gender marriage, and the church of Jack LaFlore who participated in sit-ins that helped end segregation in Knoxville among many others.

Did you ever realize birthdays could be so diverse, or could celebrate events of justice?! Join us on Sunday February 4th to learn and celebrate together with A Bithday for Everyone!

Please join us at the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library on Sunday January 7 at 1pm for stories of newness. (Look for us in Room H in the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church at 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville TN 37919.)

The Gregorian calendar, the calendar we in the United States, and most of the world, use begins a new year on January 1. Happy New Year!

What other kinds of newness can we discover in our CDJL collection? New ideas. New family members. New schools. New places to go or live. New feelings. New skills. New friends. New names. New jobs. New homes. New books. We have all experienced being new, or something new, at some point. Come discover newness with us, and tell us — what’s new with you?

Please join us at the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library on Sunday November 5 for three opportunities to thoughtfully engage with Thanksgiving.

At 1pm in the CDJL we will share at least three stories written by Native authors and / or centering the voices of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples to help us rethink what we’ve been told and taught about Thanksgiving.

Storytime starts at 1:00pm and runs for approximately 30 minutes. After storytime you will have the chance to participate in some activities such as exploring the  Native Land Digital interactive online map to learn about who's land we are inhabiting, decorating land acknowledgement table tents for your Thanksgiving table and creating thank you notes for anyone who has helped you. Additional activities to work on or take home may include coloring pages from one of our books and a Spirit Plate activity described in Keepunumuk. Following the activities, childcare will be available until 3pm.

Starting at 2pm, adults may participate in a forum “Parenting & Educating for Justice at Thanksgiving”. How can we help children understand the real history and harm that undergirds the “traditional” celebration of Thanksgiving, while also holding onto meaningful family rituals of giving thanks? What do we do to counter misinformation about the history of the United States and the lived experience of Native Americans that our kids learn at school and from others? How do we figure out how and when to have these conversations with our kids? Join us as we ask big questions, do some learning, share some resources, and offer a space to discuss the challenges of parenting for justice at Thanksgiving (and throughout the year). Facilitated by Catherine Farmer Loya in the Lizzie Crozier Room at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church at 2pm.

Join us in the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library for three great reads and related fun activities.

Join us for a healthy and satisfying snack as we share some of the best stories in our collection and engage in a small act of service to thank all the wonderful people who donated books to our library.

The little library that love built is now open! And it takes continued effort to keep it that way. We are so glad to have had many books donated. Now we need to get them on the shelves! We also need to cover books with dust jackets, insert book plates to recognize our donors, send thank you notes. Join us for a volunteer get together to work on Children's Diversity & Justice Library development. We'll have fun and work together to keep this little library going and make it even better! Bring a tablet, smartphone or laptop if you have one. Childcare available. Location - Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Lizzie Crozier French Room

Welcome to the opening of our library! Join us for an open house, reception, and story time.

Join us for a short presentation on the Children's Diversity & Justice Library library and a work session (stay as long or as little as you like) to get the library ready to open in October. Bring a tablet, smartphone or laptop if you have one. Childcare available. Location - Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Lizzie Crozier French Room

Join us for a short presentation on the Children's Diversity & Justice Library library and a work session (stay as long or as little as you like) to get the library ready to open in October. Bring a tablet, smartphone or laptop if you have one. Childcare available. Location - Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Lizzie Crozier French Room

Join us for a short presentation on the Children's Diversity & Justice Library library and a work session (stay as long or as little as you like) to get the library ready to open in October. Bring a tablet, smartphone or laptop if you have one. Childcare available. Location - Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Lizzie Crozier French Room