The Mt. Lebanon Public Library is observing Welcoming Week, created in 2012 by Welcoming America, a nonprofit with a mission to foster inclusion for immigrants. Since its founding in 2012, Welcoming America has designated a week in September as Welcoming Week. This year, Welcoming Week is the third week in September. The library began celebrating Welcoming Week in 2016, but this year will be the first since 2021, with events scheduled from Monday, September 15, to Friday, September 19, culminating in the return of the library’s Global Beats program.

On Monday, September 15, in the library courtyard at 6:30 p.m., children’s librarian Rachel Blier will share stories and folktales from around the world. Registration is required. You can register as late as 6 p.m. on event day.

The following evening in Meeting Room A at 7, the library will host a panel discussion on how to make communities more welcoming to new immigrants. Panelists will include representatives from Immigrant Services and Connections (ISAC), Casa San Jose, an immigrant advocacy organization and Literacy Pittsburgh. Registration is not required, but the discussion is limited to adults 18 and older.

Appalasia, a multicultural music group, will perform on Wednesday, September 17 in the library courtyard at 7. Appalasia combines the sounds of dulcimer, erhu, banjo and vocals, influenced by Asian and Appalachian folk music, with original composition and inspired improvisation.

The library caps off Welcoming Week on Friday, September 19 with the return of its Global Beats program, featuring a performance by Hugo Cruz and Caminos, with a range of Mexican appetizers and desserts at 6:30 p.m.

Hugo Cruz and Caminos fuse rhythms and melodies of Afro-Cuban, Cuban, jazz, funk, and R&B music styles, in an original contemporary expression that honors traditional Cuban form. The Caminos have appeared at Fábrica de Artes in Havana, Cuba, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Carnegie Museum of Art, City of Asylum and the Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall.