Louisville Free Public Library Celebrates History And Culture Of Louisville’s Immigrant, Refugee Communities

With Louisville home to more than 53,000 immigrants, the Free Public Library is hosting an event celebrating them and refugee communities in the city.

The Free Public Library will once again host Celebrating Our Neighborhood, a series that partners with Kentucky Refugee Ministries to celebrate the Iraqi American community while exploring the culture’s history, music and cuisine with three programs over the next three months in 2024.

This Saturday, July 13, the Bon Air Library will host The History of Iraq, an overview of the land’s history plus a look at how the country fares today. Known as Mesopotamia in the ancient world, The Louisville Free Public Library said in a statement that Iraq’s rich and long cultural history will be looked at by Dr. Brad Bowman, the Associate Professor & Director of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Louisville, while also surveying the region’s past.

During the lecture, Dr. Bowman will also touch on how Iraq has gotten itself to the country we see today, while Iraqi-American activist and physician, Dr. Nadia Rasheed, will share how current events are shaping up in Iraq.

To learn more about this program or to register, visit lfpl.org/OurNeighborhood .