A group of librarians participating in Saturday’s protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies organized storytime for young activists throughout the day.

Members of Urban Librarians Unite, an organization focused on supporting librarians and libraries in urban settings, read aloud to children in Manhattan’s Foley Square before the “Families Belong Together” march, and then again at the march’s conclusion, according to School Library Journal.

“When kids don’t have access to a normal life, even storytime is a radical act,” the group wrote in an Instagram post.

The book selection highlighted diverse children’s stories, including some on immigration like Faith Ringgold’s “We Came to America” and Bao Phi’s “A Different Pond.”

Christian Zabriskie, executive director of Urban Librarians Unite and a librarian in Yonkers, N.Y., participated in Saturday’s activities, and told School Library Journal that storytime is “America at its best.”

“We’re really in the middle of a humanitarian crisis right now and I cannot imagine librarians sitting by the wayside,” she said. “It’s the polar opposite of who we are as a profession. We go into this profession because we choose to care. We choose to be a helper.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Saturday’s march in New York was one of hundreds organized nationwide and abroad in protest of President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE’s “zero tolerance” policy to prosecute border crossers, which has resulted in more than 2,000 migrant children being separated from their parents.





Another librarian at the march, Rosemary Kiladitis, told School Library Journal that children who come to her library in Queens do not feel supported by the president or his policies.

“Kids at my library constantly say ‘Donald Trump hates us.’ ‘Our president hates us.’ We tell them that they’re welcome here,” she said.

“These kids need every advantage we can give them,” she said. “We’re there for them and if we’re not going to back up [what] we do in the library by showing them we are always there in times of adversity, that’s a problem.”