For the past two years, Baldwin resident Subrina Singh has hosted Diwali programs for local youth in partnership with the Baldwin Public Library. This year, however, she learned the celebration would not return in the same capacity.
Rather than sponsor the program as it had in 2024 and 2025, the Baldwin Public Library offered Singh the use of a meeting room to organize an event independently, with Singh responsible for its planning and promotion.
Singh, a lifelong Baldwin resident, first approached the library in 2024 about offering an educational Diwali program for elementary-age children, featuring an age-appropriate book reading and corresponding craft. Singh said the program reached its roughly 20-person capacity. In 2025, the library invited her back and expanded the initiative into three offerings: one for children in kindergarten through third grade, another for those in grades four through seven, and a teen program for grades eight through 12.
The younger programs combined books about Diwali with age-appropriate activities, while the teen program took on the atmosphere of a “mela,” or fair, with food, crafts and a henna station. Teen participants also painted diyas, the small oil lamps traditionally associated with Diwali.
For Singh, however, the change this year has raised concerns that extend beyond the Diwali program. She said the larger issue is how the library approaches recurring cultural and educational programming, and whether popular programs that reflect the community can return annually alongside new offerings.
“This is so much more than Diwali,” Singh said. “When we look at other holidays, like Lunar New Year, Juneteenth, Kwanzaa… all these holidays, cultural holidays and traditions represent people of this community. That’s what connects us, and I think having certain programs annually is really important.”
Elizabeth Olesh, director of the Baldwin Public Library, said the situation had not been presented accurately, emphasizing that the library seeks variety when developing its programming calendar.
“The library, indeed, strives to offer a variety of programming,” Olesh said. “We prefer not to log in our schedule with programs on any one celebration or topic every year, whether it’s Diwali, Juneteenth, Women’s History, or any other cultural or historic issue.”
Olesh said the library had not prevented Singh from holding a Diwali event, nothing that she had been offered space to host one at the library.
Singh, however, said that offer differed from the arrangement in 2024 and 2025, when the library created flyers and promoted the program through its own channels. Singh also said the library provided a budget for event expenses.
This year, she said, she was offered use of a library meeting room to hold the event independently, rather than having it hosted and supported by the library as part of its programming.
“That’s doing a program at the library, not with the library,” Singh said.
Sweety Singh, Subrina’s friend who has helped with the programs, said she was disappointed by the change, particularly after seeing the community’s response to the previous events.
“I was just, like, disappointed that we can’t offer this program for the community when it’s obvious the community wants it,” she said.
For Singh, the primary concern is how diversity is reflected in the library’s programming. While introducing new events is important, she believes recurring programs can also help reflect the cultures and interests represented throughout the community.
“I think their understanding of diversity in programming is linked to this annual understanding, like, diversity means you have something different every year. But that’s not how diversity is mostly understood. Diversity means it reflects the needs and wants of your diverse community meaning they come from different places, and they want to see their traditions and whatnot represented,” Singh said. “I think programming should be different. It’s nice to add a couple new things, but there should be the staples that are really important to the community that should be there.”
Singh also stressed that cultural programming is not intended only for residents who observe a particular holiday. Children from a variety of backgrounds attended her Diwali programs in 2024 and 2025, an example, she believes, of show such programs can introduce young people to traditions they may not encounter otherwise.
“Programming is not for one community,” Singh said. “I’m always focused on our youth because they are our future and we want to give them the support and the tools and the compassion that they need to be successful, not only here in Baldwin, but beyond. These are their impressionable years.”
Singh emphasized that she remains an active library patron and values its resources and programs it provides. However, she hopes the issue can lead to a broader conversation about how the library can balance new offerings with recurring programs that reflect Baldwin’s community.
“I love the library. I love the resources it provides,” Singh said. “But again, this is so much more than Diwali.”
