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Please support Native owned businesses with your library and personal budgets. Aaron Carapella is super and will help you find just the right maps for your region to hang in your library.

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Comprehensive Tribal maps of the Native American and First Nations, Inuit Nations of North America, Tribes of South America , Central America, Caribbean, Indigenous , Native, Aboriginal , Indian Tribes

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If you would like your name included in your post, please make sure you are signed into or create a Padlet account. It is free. If you do NOT want your name next to your comments, please make sure you are signed OUT of your Padlet account. Either choice is welcome here.

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If you would like your name included in your post, please make sure you are signed into or create a Padlet account. It is free. If you do NOT want your name next to your comments, please make sure you are signed OUT of your Padlet account. Either choice is welcome here.

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As Padlet offers the ability to respond anonymously, let's take a moment to make sure we establish community norms. In the parenthesis you'll find how I usually word the Community Norms in my classes with adults and students.

By using this Padlet, you agree to:
1. Speak on behalf of yourself and your lived experiences. ("Speak from an honest and open heart.")

2. Honor and respect that other people have experiences that may disrupt your thinking. ("Honor multiple truths and complexity.")

3. Elevate the community with your positive contributions. ("Be present. Be generous. Be mindful.")

4. Express any concern about a posting directly to the moderators. ("Ouch! Ooops!")

5. Share the resources you learn about here but NOT the link to the Padlet itself. ("What is said here stays here, what is learned here leaves here.")

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As you are developing your own online Community Norms, I wanted to share Maegen Rose's (https://www.maegenrose.com/about-1) recent amazing cited compilation: 

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As you are developing your own online Community Norms, I wanted to share Maegen Rose's (https://www.maegenrose.com/about-1) recent amazing cited compilation: 

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1. Tell your truth. (Clint Smith's TED Talk)

2. Embrace messiness and kindness (Teaching Tolerance)

3. Practice accountability (Teaching Tolerance)

4. If someone says an idea or question that helps you in your own learning, say thank you. (Facing History and Ourselves)

5. Accept and expect non-closure. (Courageous Conversations)

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ODLOS and ALA have compiled these resources to inform its members and the public about Black Lives Matter and related issues and share them for informational purposes

In late spring 2020, amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, people across the world gathered in large and small demonstrations to protest the murder of George Floyd and draw attention to the ongoing systemic issue of police violence. The protests calling for justice give voice to trauma and justified anger in Black communities terrorized by centuries of police violence and anti-Black racism.

Although the pandemic-induced threat of layoffs and high unemployment, lack of health resources, challenges in education, and insecure housing are new to many, Black and Brown communities across the nation have had to contend with these challenges as daily facts of life.

The librarian profession suffers from a persistent lack of racial and ethnic diversity that shows few signs of improving. In 2018, just 6.8 percent of librarians identified as Black or African American ( Department for Professional Employees).

Many people are feeling helpless, but there are many ways we can center the voices and experiences of Black library workers, the Black community, support the broader Black Lives Matter movement, fight against police violence, and help the cause of racial justice.

Terminology

Anti-Racism: Anti-racism is "the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism tends to be an individualized approach, and set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts." ( National Education Association - Racial Justice in Education)

BIPOC: "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The term BIPOC is used to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context." (BIPOC Project) We use the term BIPOC in this resource to identify opportunities that are not specifically for Black people, but Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Black Lives Matter: #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, they are winning immediate improvements in their lives. ( Black Lives Matter)

Racial Justice: "The systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice-or racial equity-goes beyond "anti-racism." It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures." ( Race Forward)

White Supremacy: White supremacy is "the belief system that rationalizes and reproduces white advantage in the political, social, and cultural institutions of society. This belief system holds that white people, white culture, and things associated with whiteness are superior to those of other racial groups." ( Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, page 138)

Plan for Action
Commit to doing everyday actions

Educate yourself about anti-racism and racial equity efforts within the profession.

Familiarize yourself with police reform and abolition efforts.

Examine the language you use.

Center and Support Black voices in LIS

Amplify the voices of Black library workers and support their community spaces through donations and membership.

Read about and promote the historic contributions of Black LIS workers and add books to your collection.

Staff development

Train all staff on topics related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Commit to hiring Black library workers, connecting paraprofessionals to scholarship opportunities, and supporting residents and interns.

Consider your workplace retention strategies.

Library Programming

Host a book club on a book that explicitly talks about race relations in the United States and be prepared to have a frank conversation. Incorporate lessons on race and discussions on race during storytime and promote reading lists. If you aren't equipped to facilitate these conversations, see if there is a trained facilitator in your community that would be willing to host.

Host a viewing party on a documentary that highlights systemic injustices. After watching the documentary together, encourage a respectful discussion about the themes. For more on facilitation, see ODLOS Webinar - How to Talk about Race.

Celebrate the National Day of Racial Healing. Encourage library administrators to sign the proclamation.

Partner with local Black community members on projects and initiatives.

Seek out Black readers for your Reader's Advisory Group.

Evaluate policies

Ensure that the public knows the library's stance. Understand that it is not a political stance to state that Black Lives Matter.

Be aware of the ways your library may not seem welcoming.

ALA Statements

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ODLOS and ALA have compiled these resources to inform its members and the public about Black Lives Matter and related issues and share them for informational purposes In late spring 2020, amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, people across the world gathered in large and small demonstrations to prote…

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What are you cooking or eating that is bringing you joy these days?

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What lists do you refer to when shopping for your collection?

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What lists do you refer to when shopping for your collection?

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As you build an intentionally antiracist inclusive collection, what lists are you referencing to check your choices?

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This article from the Washington Post is haunting me this week: White Americans, your lack of imagination is killing us by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons. Please click through and read this powerful piece, which was brought to my attention by Nora Rawlins of Early Word. Lemmons writes "...when it comes to black life in America, there's only one conclusion I can reach about some white people: You don't care to put yourself in our shoes. The consequences of this lack of imagination for black Americans are deadly."
It's haunting me because, white librarians, this is what we do. And we need to get better at it.
What better way for people to learn empathy than by reading antiracist books? Reading fiction has been shown to increase empathy. There are more and more books being published by and about African American children. These stories can make a difference. These stories can help readers practice putting themselves in others' shoes. These stories can increase empathy. We need to be seeking out antiracist books, buying these books for our collections, reading these books ourselves, and matching them with readers.

A lot of white people are struggling right now with wanting to help, but not knowing what to do. Last Thursday at the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives (catch the recording here), presented by The Brown Bookshelf, author Paula Chase-Hyman talked about the work there is to do. The work of books is work we can do.

White librarians, if you struggled to find antiracist books in your collection or your digital collection to make an antiracist book list this week, there is work to do.

If you found yourself googling other antiracist book lists or asking colleagues to share their book lists because you didn't have enough titles at your fingertips to make your own list or write your own blog post, there is work to do.

If you filled up an antiracist book list with titles you haven't read, there is work to do.

If a friend or patron asked you for an antiracist book suggestion and you didn't know where to start, there is work to do.

I'm not saying that we all have to know every single title from memory or be able to create a list without doing some research (I'm useless without my computer). But if any of those above statements is true for you (and some are true for me, too), there is work to do.

The good news is that, realizing this is a starting point. This is work we can do. This is our wheelhouse. Seek out own-voices books by African American and other marginalized authors and read them. Add picture books, chapter books, middle grade books, teen books, and adult books to your repertoire. Where are your weak areas? What work do you need to do?

If you're not sure where to start finding antiracist books, ALSC, ALA, and ALA affiliates have some resources for you.

Start with Coretta Scott King Book Award winners and honors. Don't stop at the titles with shiny medals on their covers. Use this list to discover authors and illustrators and then read all their books. Ditto the Pura Belpré Award. Ditto the APALA Literature Awards and the American Indian Youth Literature Awards and the Stonewall Awards and the Sydney Taylor Book Awards. Check out The Brown Bookshelf and We Need Diverse Books.

Allow these books into your mind and your heart, but don't stop there. Talk about these books, write about these books. Post about them on social media. Gift them to your family and friends. Press them into the hands of your patrons, young and old. Make diverse and inclusive books a priority in your life.

Our patrons are hungering for it right now. It seems like more people than ever before want to educate themselves and their children. If you haven't already been doing this or if you can strive to be better at it, now is the time to make it happen.

This post addresses the following ALSC Core Competencies: I. Commitment to Client Group, II. Reference and User Services, IV. Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials, VII. Professionalism and Professional Development.

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Antiracist Books Increase Empathy and Save Lives - ALSC Blog

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This article from the Washington Post is haunting me this week: White Americans, your lack of imagination is killing us by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons. Please click through and read this powerful piece, which was brought to my attention by Nora Rawlins of Early Word.

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National Black Lives Matter at School is an organization struggling for liberation and racial justice in education for Black youth, educators, and all youth of color. We are a Black-led and multi-ethnoracial collective of educators, parents, organizers, youth, and community folx who are committed to creating a more just world so that all people may be able to access their full humanity. We work to address racial justice in education by promoting restorative justice, advocating for mental health support, increasing Black teaching staff, ending police presence in schools, and mandating Black history and ethnic studies. We encourage all educators, students, parents, unions, and community organizations to join our annual week of action during the first week of February each year.​

Our collective is guided by core principles that are grounded in a Black Feminist framework. Political views that have brought us together in doing this work, deep revolutionary transformational politics, opposition to neoliberalism, corporate reforms in education, defend and transform unions, Black Queer feminist anticapitalist politics, abolitionist politics and approach to restorative and transformative justice.

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National coalition organizing for racial justice in education.

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Melissa Iamonico, member of the planning committee for the NYS Battle of the Books, gave me permission to share this with you. Check out the BoB Across the Country section and participate!

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Section of School Librarians & Youth Services Section of New York Library Association

Everything you need plan your own
Virtual Battle of the Books

NYS Battle of the Books Handbook

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Section of School Librarians & Youth Services Section of New York Library Association Everything you need plan your own Virtual Battle of the Books NYS Battle of the Books Handbook

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Free shared reading titles from Overdrive.

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Now available free to libraries without waitlists or holds: audiobook of So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo - OverDrive

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New: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo now available Knowing that our library partners want to provide antiracism and social justice titles to their patrons, we are launching a new program called Black Lives Matter: Community Read.

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Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List for Teens

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Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List for Teens

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Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List for Teens

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Explore essential titles selected by the Schomburg Center as it marks 95 years of collecting and preserving Black history, arts, and culture. Available on SimplyE and from the Schomburg Shop.

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List 1-3 #ownvoices titles you added to your summer reading list for 2020.

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Have you invited a BIPOC author or illustrator in that you think everyone should have come to their institution? Briefly explain what made the visit extra special for your community.

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When a patron came up to you asking for a book from a reading list that made you roll your eyes, what did you give them instead that made your heart happy?

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Favorite Tech for Librarianship Right Now

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Favorite Tech for Librarianship Right Now

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What technology have you been using more or just learned about that is making your practice more successful?

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Does your institution create time and space for affinity (identity) groups? Are any of the affinity groups race based? Are they well attended?

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What are you doing that is bringing you joy these days?

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What are you watching that is bringing you joy these days?

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What are you listening to that is bringing you joy these days?

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What are you reading that is bringing you joy these days?

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How are you supporting the antiracist work of your institution without doing all the heavy lifting on your own?

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If you would like to share the first name or initials of the person you are dedicating this time to, please feel free to here.

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How are you holding yourself and your colleagues accountable to be transparently antiracist in your collection development and programming? Who are you listening to and learning from to improve your antiracist practice?

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If you have created a professional learning and support group of librarians, how often do you meet? On a scale from 1-5 (1 = "not much" and 5 = "1000%"), how does this group improve your practice?