The 2020 “Coming to America” series hosted by Vernon Area Public Library explored these questions through books, movies, programs, and a crowd-sourced community project called First Day in America.
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​The series was anchored by a selection of three books translated from Yiddish and set during the first part of the 20th century — ​stories with elements many of us may recognize from our own or our families' immigration stories. The books and related programs dug into questions of identity, assimilation, and generational change experienced by many immigrants, regardless of place of origin.

​First Day in America: Our Community’s Stories 

Preserve your memories of your arrival in the United States. Your recollections will be added to those already collected here to capture the diverse stories of our community. Stories are still being accepted.
The Vernon Area Public Library series was funded through a grant from the Yiddish Book Center’s “Coming to America” Reading Groups for Public Libraries, a program made possible by a generous gift from Sharon Karmazin.