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Links to links! Inclusive Collections and Diversity Audits 

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Links to links! Inclusive Collections and Diversity Audits 

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Mackin Diversity Audit (requires login) CCBC Diversity Statistics Book Search - Cooperative Children's Book Center. *A Thank-You to Librarians Who Make Everyone Feel Welcome. Black Librarians Speak Out. Diverse BookFinder Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) Graphic novels help teens learn about racism, climate change and social justice - here's a reading list. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Read the original article. by Karen W. Gavigan, University of South Carolina and Kasey Garrison, Charles Sturt University Teen activists worldwide are making headlines for their social justice advocacy on everything from climate change and immigration to substance abuse and LGBTQ issues. As young people get more vocal about these issues, this trend is being reflected in the graphic novels they are reading. It's a relatively new genre. Later, the cartoonist Art Spiegelman created "Maus," which relayed his father's experiences during the Holocaust through pictures in which Jews were mice, Germans were cats and Poles were pigs. Sales have soared since then. Because the combination of text and images in graphic novels can communicate issues and emotions that words alone often cannot, more educators and parents are finding them to be effective tools for tackling tough issues with kids.

Reading While White: The Benefits & Limits of Diversity Audits. This is a post in Reading While White's end-of-year retrospective series.

Diversity audits! They're an analytical look at a library collection through a diversity lens: tracking minority representations vs. majority. This can cover a variety of identity markers, but generally what is talked about most is numbers of BIPOC and White creators/ characters. These audits aren't totally a new thing, but they've gained traction over the last year with Karen Jensen's posts giving guidelines on how-to (also see her more recent post) and Library Journal's online course "Equity in Action: Taking Your Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives to the Next Level" delving into the subject. Does My Collection Reflect My Community? Diversity in the School Library. Shannon McClintock: Welcome, everybody, to our Future Ready Librarian Webinar.

I'm so excited for our April webinar. And as you know, my name is Shannon McClintock Miller. I am the district teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School in Iowa and the Future Ready Librarians Spokesperson. Also, you can find me on my blog at The Library Voice and on Twitter and Instagram @shannonmmiller. And so we're so excited to have everybody here for this webinar, and we're now into the third year. And so we've had quite a few. Also, I wanted to just share the #FutureReady, as well.

And so it's always good to, I think, include those in the conversation, as well, not just us as librarians. And so you can go there to check out more, and at the end I will tell you a little bit too about that website, because there's lots of great things on there, as well. And it's going to be focused on, I think, one of the most exciting things that have happened to our framework. How Labeling Books as "Diverse" Reinforces White Supremacy. In this guest post, librarian Alexandria Brown discusses the issues with labeling books as "diverse" and other ways we can build and promote a more equitable library collection.

Every so often, the question of whether or not to add a spine label designating "diverse" books makes the rounds. Many condemn the practice, but lots of library staff persist in labeling. Like most diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in librarianship, many of my colleagues are still operating within a white (and cisgender and heterosexual) supremacist framework. It is an understandable predicament to be in - after all, many library degree programs are not as strong as they could be in advocating for DEI and decolonization.

So let's examine the question of diversity labeling and see if we can't get to a better understanding of why it's problematic. Asians in Children's Lit. A Frank Conversation about Diversity in Library Resources (SLC) Library/Media Center / Diversity Audit. Diversity Audit: During the 19-21 school year I began a comprehensive "Diversity Audit" on the fiction collection of our library.

The initial audit was completed in Fall 2020. Going forward I will continue to audit the collection each year, including the newly purchased items. You will be able to view the current data on this page, as it will be updated each year. Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk Series. Diversity Audit: A Practical Guide. Diversity Audit 2 - Sci-Fi. Read part 1 of the Diversity Audit blog series here!

Read part 3 of the diversity audit blog series here! As you know from my last post I have begun a comprehensive and extensive Diversity Audit on my high school library's fiction collection. I have decided to do the diversity audit by genre first, so that I will have data on the diversity of each individual genre. This information will help immensely with my collection development efforts going forward. Diversity Audit 3 - Mystery & Horror Genre. Read part 1 of the Diversity Audit blog series here!

Read part 2 of the Diversity Audit blog series here! As you know from my last post I have begun a comprehensive and extensive Diversity Audit on my high school library's fiction collection. I have decided to do the diversity audit by genre first, so that I will have data on the diversity of each individual genre. Diversity Audit & A Conversation with Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Shang: Books Between, Episode 28 - All The Wonders. First up is how things went when I did a diversity check of my classroom library.

If you listened to the last episode (#27 with librarian Sarah Threlkeld) you heard us chatting about this activity she did with her students to reflect on the diversity found in their school library. And I think even way back to Episode 18, I mentioned reading this fantastic blog post over at Lee & Low Books that shared how one teacher helped her class analyze the books in their room to find out how different genders and races are represented.

I'll include a link to that article and the main framework of what I did is pulled directly from there. So I want to be clear - this is not my idea, but I'm sharing how it went for me with the idea that you might want to try it, too. Diversity Audit Outline 2017 with Sources. Diversity Audits - AASL - Google Slides. Multicultural and Social Justice Books. MISelf in Books: A Diverse Book List for All. Recently, the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) released the 2020 MISelf in Books List.

MAME is an affiliate of AASL and works with librarians across the state of Michigan. The MISelf in Books List is an annual list of diverse books that were selected by a committee of certified school librarians who are members of MAME. For those who do not know MI is the abbreviation for the state of Michigan. The books included are all published in the last two years and written by #ownvoice authors. This list includes books for all grade levels: PreK-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. When you open the list. MIself In Books App. A Great Big List of MG and YA Collection Development Resources. When I give presentations on doing Collection Diversity Audits, I get asked a lot about how I determine whether or not a book is counted as diverse.

The process is always changing for me as I learn more and grow, and at this point I focus on Own Voices. The truth is, the answer to this question is that I continually engage in listening, learning, reading and growing. The work is never done and it must be intentional. I keep and continually add to an ongoing list of resources that help me do this work. Today I am sharing the bare bones of that list with you. "Mirrors, Windows, & Sliding Doors" Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls - MindShift. Middle grade: Farah Rocks Fifth Grade by Susan Muaddi Darraj, Clean Getaway by Nic Stone, Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson Young adult: A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell, Wicked Fox by Kat Cho, With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo Surface-level Diversity In February, Barnes & Noble canceled a plan to release twelve classic novels with covers featuring protagonists of color after critics called the promotion "literary blackface."

In a live episode of the "Book Friends Forever" podcast, author-illustrator Grace Lin said it is tempting for picture book creators to make a similar mistake. Module 24b: Transforming Library Collections Part 2 - Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth. After working through this module, you will be able to: Discuss some of the key topics that must be considered when collecting diverse texts.Develop a plan to stay up-to-date with and address these topics and others that may arise.

Introduction There are a number of important topics that need to be considered when collecting diverse texts. In this module, we will highlight several of them for you to think about and act on. Black Lives Matter at School_Resources (Judi Moreillon) I am providing these resources to support #BLMatSchool Week of Action: February 1 - 5, 2021 Resources for Virtual Book Discussions/Programming: Barbershop Books Ethically Sharing Children's and Young Adult Literature Online (School Librarian Leadership)

Gale eBooks: LGBTQ/Diversity - Gale. My Account Access My Account membership allows you to easily: Instantly preview any eBook available on the GVRL platform Manage contact, billing and shipping information Order print and eBook titles online Renew subscription of your electronic resources online View detailed pricing and availability Track order status View your shopping cart and manage your wish lists Print invoices We reserve the right to change pricing at any time. Pricing errors may occur. In the event inaccurate prices appear in our catalog, we will, at our discretion, either contact you to resolve the issue or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.

The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf. LGBTQ eBook Collection: Gale/New York City School Library System. 30 Essential LGBT+ Books for YA Readers. Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials about American Indians. Editors Note: This post was created as a one-page document that would fit into a single page. It is also available as a pdf. If you have trouble opening or downloading the pdf, write to us directly (see the "Contact" tab for Debbie's email address).

A one-pager was hard to do! We wanted to add resources for each of the ten points. Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your Collection. Denver Public Schools Selection Audit for Creating Inclusive Collections. Diverse BookFinder Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) Beyond the Collection Diversity Audit: Inclusion is More Than a Book, Why we should be auditing all of our library services for inclusion and best practices. Introducing Own Voices as an appeal term in NoveList. October 22, 2018 Big news, folks! Own voices is now a searchable appeal term in NoveList. Where to Find Diverse Books. Resources for Race, Equity, and Inclusion. We Need Diverse Books - weneeddiversebooks.org. Take Action: Diversity Audit. Reading Diversity.

Honoring Black Lives Virtual Library - Google Slides. Serving Diverse Learners in the Library Media Center (KC Boyd) Module 24a: Transforming Library Collections Part 1 - Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth. After working through this module, you will be able to: Explain to your faculty, staff, administrators, and parents/caregivers the value of diverse and reflective literature.Evaluate your library's collection through a racial equity lens.Collaboratively develop a plan to improve your library's collection to better serve BIYOC.

Introduction Diversity is not praiseworthy. It is reality. -Malindo Lo. Module 24b: Transforming Library Collections Part 2 - Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth. The Brown Bookshelf. Lee and Low: Checklist: 8 Steps to Creating a Diverse Book Collection. It's not easy to create an inclusive book collection. Whether you're a librarian creating a collection for an entire community, a teacher creating a collection for your classroom, or a parent creating a collection for your children, choosing books that reflect the diversity of human experience can be a challenging job. That's because creating a diverse book collection is about more than just making sure X, Y, and Z are represented. It's not a matter of ticking off check boxes or making sure quotas are filled. Lee & Low Books (leeandlow) on Pinterest. 2020 Diverse Summer Reading List.

Let's kick off summer with our engaging, printable Diverse Summer Reading List that will get all kids engaged in reading! Our list includes both fiction and nonfiction, bilingual Spanish/English titles, and a diverse range of cultures-in other words, the right book for every reader! You can find the full Summer Reading collection here. Want to freshen up your Summer Reading list, but not sure where to begin? Moving Multicultural Collections Online. Social Justice Books. Diversifying Reading Lists.

Promoting diversity in literature is one of the core building blocks of the librarian profession. It is second nature for most of us to seek out books that feature characters from other countries, races, religions, backgrounds, and identities. But teachers often don't have autonomy in choosing which books to include in their curriculums. According to an article in the fall 2019 issue of the Harvard Ed. Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. Hijabi Librarians - We've got it covered. I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read? Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

The list of awards below was originally published in Children and Libraries (Vol. 13, no. 3/Fall 2015). The Coretta Scott King Book Awards. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

American Indian Youth Literature Award - American Indian Library Association. Rainbow Book List. Tomás Rivera Book Award: Mexican American Children's Book Award. Freeman Book Awards - NCTA. Ezra Jack Keats Award (multicultural literature) Americas Award @ CLASP, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. Rich in Color - Reading & Reviewing Diverse YA Books. American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) Exploring the world of Latinx YA, MG, & children's literature. CrazyQuiltEdi (Edi Campbell:I blog to make IPOC authors and their works more accessible, to make all the pieces fit together). Corinne Duyvis. Picture This: Diversity in Children's Books 2018 Infographic - Sarah Park Dahlen, Ph.D. OwnVoicesSlides. The Problem With #OwnVoices LGBTQ Lit.

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Week 7: Toolkit: Inclusive collections and diversity audits

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Mackin Diversity Audit (requires login) CCBC Diversity Statistics Book Search - Cooperative Children's Book Center. *A Thank-You to Librarians Who Make Everyone Feel Welcome. Black Librarians Speak Out. Diverse BookFinder Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) Graphic novels help teens learn about racism, climate change and social justice - here's a reading list.

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If you have ever attended any session where I have presented and the topic of diversity has come up, you know I am quick to tell attendees that I do not give out diverse book lists. Here is my reason why: there are no diverse texts. It is in the transaction (Rosenblatt, 1986) between the reader an

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Claire Parrish, the Public Services Director at the Rice Lake (WI) Public Library reached out to us after our recent post on doing diversity audits. She offered to share their process and experience tackling their juvenile and YA collections. Here's Claire!

While COVID has thrown a wrench in a lot of our plans, one thing that has been nice is it gave us the motivation to dig into some projects that are very time/detail intensive. One such project is a diversity audit of our Juvenile and YA fiction. A post was shared a few weeks back giving an introduction of how to complete an audit, so I thought I'd share how we've made it happen here at the Rice Lake Public Library.

I kicked the project off by creating the spreadsheet of categories I wanted to evaluate. You can get as specific or as general as you want with these, so really think about what you're hoping to learn from the audit when coming up with them. My main goal was to look at racial diversity, which gave me a starting place with categories. I also really liked the Any Child and Beautiful Life categories from the Diverse Children's Book Finder tool, so I incorporated those along with gender/ sexual orientation, author information, and if the character was main or secondary as my sub categories. Then I pulled in some categories from the wonderful Karen Jensen regarding disabilities, separating them by visible and invisible. Since we all know there are lots of books with nonhuman characters, I threw in those categories as well. A notes section was added for needed clarification, such as noting if a character was multiple races.

Here's a screenshot, because that was a lot!

I then ran a list of titles for each collection and was ready to start!

Two of my wonderful library assistants are going through and evaluating each title for the categories listed. They're using the book description in our MORE library catalog, Kirkus Reviews, various blogs, and then grabbing the book if they need more information. It is time consuming, but it has been a good project to work on with slower traffic due to COVID. We are picking back up with patron visits, so the progress has slowed a little, but I'm confident we'll finish the project soon. Another bonus is that it's gotten my library assistants more familiar with the collection, so think about assigning it to newer staff as a way for them to learn what's available to patrons.

Here's a link to the YA Diversity Audit spreadsheet, feel free to copy and use as a start for your own audit!

You can contact Claire at claireparrish@ricelakegov.org

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Claire Parrish, the Public Services Director at the Rice Lake (WI) Public Library reached out to us after our recent post on doing diversity audits . She offered to share their process and experience tackling their juvenile and YA collections. Here's Claire!

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Module 24a: Transforming Library Collections Part 1

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After working through this module, you will be able to: Explain to your faculty, staff, administrators, and parents/caregivers the value of diverse and reflective literature. Evaluate your library's collection through a racial equity lens. Collaboratively develop a plan to improve your library's collection to better serve BIYOC.

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How to Audit Your Classroom Library for Diversity

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How to Audit Your Classroom Library for Diversity

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A bingo card can tell teachers a lot about the people and genres that are represented in their class library-and the ones that are missing.

Aron Vellekoop León / Ikon Images

We know that representation matters, that in order for our classrooms to be spaces where everyone is affirmed and included, young people must see themselves and their lived experiences in our curricula. Do our classroom libraries reflect this knowledge? Bookshelves offer a powerful litmus test of the experiences and identities we honor and include in our classrooms.

Books as Windows and Mirrors

"She's from Pakistan, just like me."

"He has dark skin like mine."

"I'm adopted, too."

"Look, that main character uses a wheelchair like mine."

What happens to students' self-efficacy and self-concept when they see their lives positively reflected in the curriculum? Even very young children recognize the importance and delight in finding themselves in a book:

Books become transformative when they shift our perspectives, alter our worldviews, and deepen our relationships with others. Let's implement practices that make reading from many different experiences, worldviews, and cultures part of the social fabric of our schools.

To build on this idea, I created a simple bingo card that educators complete with book titles. I hoped it would challenge teacher groups to think more critically about representation and diversity in their classroom libraries and foster new conversations about reading. It did that and more.

The Bookshelf Equity Audit

A key objective of this exercise is to foster school conversations about the books we read and teach. I have used this activity in professional development workshops. I think it also has the potential to be used as a faculty or school-wide reading challenge.

Rules of the exercise: Everyone needs their own bingo card (there's a downloadable pdf below). While you may be tempted to start with the books you teach, resist that and start instead with the books you read. Like friendship, literature is a powerful entry point for exposure to diverse experiences. What and whom we read matters.

Round 1: Using a black pen, fill out the bingo card with books you have recently read, putting one title in each box. You can start with classic bingo, looking for five in a row, but consider eventually challenging yourself to complete the whole card. Filling it out will likely be more difficult than you expected.

Round 2: Using blue ink, continue filling out the bingo card with books you have recently taught. This means you could have two titles in each box: one for a book you have recently read and another for a book you have recently taught. It's very rare that someone can fill out the bingo card so completely.

Teachers often have one or two books in their curricula that fit several of the categories on the card, but each title can appear only once.

Round 3: Once we start listing titles, we can see more clearly what we're missing. Get up and talk to your peers about books. Write down new recommendations for the empty squares on your card in red ink, and make sure to read them.

The bingo exercise reveals some gaps in our reading and teaching, but it also shows us that collectively we have the resources and knowledge to start addressing these gaps. What if a copy of the book that might change your teaching practice is already waiting for you in the classroom down the hall?

Teachers have frequently told me that this activity taught them to pay attention to the lived experiences of the authors they read and teach. Considering background information and author positionality is a valuable close reading strategy that supports us in our work of showing students that their stories matter.

Many teachers have found that until they took a true audit of what they were reading and teaching, they tended to overestimate the number of books by and about people of color on their shelves.

As expected, the exercise reveals our reading preferences, as well as the fact that many of us don't read as much as we would like. While it's OK to have preferences, it's important to be aware of the gaps in our understanding and to actively try to address them. This requires reading outside of our cultural or genre comfort zone, which is why the third round is essential-it requires us to talk about books, to seek suggestions from our peers, to ask young children and folks two generations older than us for book recommendations. It affirms that reading can be a social journey, and I've found these conversations to be incredibly helpful.

The bingo card is a call to pay attention to who we are reading, who we are teaching, who is represented, who is missing, and why.

As we read more broadly and talk about books more intentionally, we're able to shine light on more experiences. We can begin to increase representation in our classrooms in ways that tell young people that many experiences matter, representation matters, and most importantly, they matter.

Here are four book lists to start expanding representation on your classroom bookshelf:

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How to Audit Your Classroom Library for Diversity

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A bingo card can tell teachers a lot about the people and genres that are represented in their class library-and the ones that are missing. Aron Vellekoop León / Ikon Images We know that representation matters, that in order for our classrooms to be spaces where everyone is affirmed and included, young people must see themselves and their lived experiences in our curricula.

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ALSC Blog: How to Conduct a Diversity Audit

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ALSC Blog: How to Conduct a Diversity Audit

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I learned about the concept of a diversity audit from a School Library Journal article by Karen Jensen. In a diversity audit, you evaluate an existing collection or service provided by your library to get hard numbers on how diverse your collection or service truly is. This can cover anything from seeing what percentage of your board books feature non-white characters, to how many LGBTQ+ titles are written by Own Voices authors, or evaluating the performers you've hired over the last year to see if they are representing diverse cultures.

Last year, I performed a diversity audit on a special collection of books in my library: our Booklegger collection. This collection consists of books for grades K-5 that staff and volunteers take on school visits to book talk. We have about 150 titles in this collection, with 5-10 copies of each title. When I started my position, I chose to start my diversity audit with this collection because it's highly used, and something we take directly out to the community.

Here's how I did it:

Step One: Research the Community

I used census data and other statistical information to get a good picture on the populations in my K-5 community. Using tools like the U.S. Census Bureau, I learned a lot about the racial breakdown of my community. Around 30% of my area's children aged 5-12 identify as white, followed by around 25% identifying as Asian, 20% as Latinx, 15% as mixed race, and 7% as Black. Please note - even if my area's population was not this diverse, it would still be incredibly important for our collection to be diverse. All children need to see diversity in their stories.

Step Two: Data, Data, Data

Next, I surveyed my collection, going through every book we bring to schools and charting the characters. I looked at whether they were human or animal, and whether they were clearly depicted as belonging to a particular race or ethnicity. I also charted LGBTQ+ characters, neuroatypical characters, and characters with disabilities. Then, I went back and did it all again for the writers and illustrators.

Data nerds, unite!

Step Three: Compare your Data Sets

I discovered with alarm that although only 30% of our community's children were white, more than 60% of our books in this collection featured white main characters. The next largest percentage? Books about non-human characters like animals and robots. We needed to improve our collection, quickly.

Step Four: Getting the Gate-Keepers on Board

Now that I knew how biased our collection was, I needed to get two groups of people on board to fix it. The first was my manager - as the one in charge of our budgeting, I needed her support to fund a revamped collection. The second group I needed to get on board was my volunteers who go out to the schools to do book talks. I needed to convince them to stop sharing some of their favorite books in order to make room for new, diverse ones. I gave them a presentation, complete with pie charts, to show them why we desperately needed this change. We talked about the famous "windows and mirrors" analogy, and I talked about my own unconscious bias as a white person. I also revamped my training class for new volunteers and staff, so that we could spend a week devoted to diversity.

Step Five: Get New Books!

No surprise, this was the best part. I researched all kinds of diverse books, and got kids, staff, and volunteers to test-read them for me. For each book, I looked for reviews that were written by a member of that culture or identity - I wanted to know if someone on the autism spectrum would find fault with the representation of an autistic character, for example. I used resources like We Need Diverse Books, American Indians in Children's Literature, and ALSC's own lists of Notable books and award winners. I took notes on what my test-readers had to say, and then I put in a request for a cart full of new books.

After all that, was everything fixed? No, of course not. Although we had increased diversity in one collection, it was just one collection. Every other collection needs to be addressed, as well. There are also areas outside our collection that need work - from diversifying our volunteers, to our performers, to the selection of books we put on face-out displays. However, every step we take inches us towards truly representing and supporting our entire community.

Today's guest blogger is Chelsey Roos. Chelsey is a member of ALSC's Advocacy and Legislation committee and is currently a children's librarian at the Castro Valley Branch of the Alameda County Library.
This blog relates to ALSC Core Competencies of I. Commitment to Client Group,IV. Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials, and V. Outreach and Advocacy

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How to Conduct a Diversity Audit - ALSC Blog

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I learned about the concept of a diversity audit from a School Library Journal article by Karen Jensen. In a diversity audit, you evaluate an existing collection or service provided by your library to get hard numbers on how diverse your collection or service truly is.

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4 Steps to Evaluating Your Collection for Diverse Books + Book Suggestions

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4 Steps to Evaluating Your Collection for Diverse Books + Book Suggestions

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How to Build a More Diverse Classroom Library

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How to Build a More Diverse Classroom Library

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New year, new goals! If one of your professional goals this year is to add more diversity to your school or classroom library, we're here with some inspiration to get you started. In the following blog post, originally posted at the Center for the Collaborative Classroom and cross-posted with permission, our Director of Curriculum and Literacy Strategy Jill Eisenberg shares tips and suggestions for how to move forward without becoming overwhelmed: Continue reading

classroom diversity classroom libraries school

In this guest post, originally posted at EdWeek and reposted here with permission, Philadelphia-based teacher Kathleen Melville shares the "Where's My Story" project she developed to teach her ninth-grade students about diversity-or the lack thereof-in children's books. Continue reading

cultural diversity curriculum diversity gap teaching about race

As February comes to an end, we round out Black History Month with a spotlight on William "Doc" Key, a self-taught veterinarian who taught his horse Jim Key how to read, write, and calculate math problems. Teaching a horse these skills might sound preposterous, but Doc was able to nurture Jim's ability through kindness, patience, and empathy. Together they traveled throughout the United States and impressed audiences with Jim's amazing performances. In the process, they broke racial barriers and raised awareness for the humane treatment of animals.

Here's what Donna Janell Bowman, author of Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness, had to say about William "Doc" Key's legacy and the amazing duo's story:

Continue reading

African/African American Interest black history month children's books diversity History kindness multicultural books Race issues William "Doc" Key

Alto, allá arriba en los Andes brilla un bosque bordado de bromelias...
High up in the Andes blooms a brilliant forest embroidered with bromeliads . . .

Set to be released this spring, ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! / Olinguito, from A to Z! : Descubriendo el bosque nublado / Unveiling the Cloud Forest takes readers into the magical world of a cloud forest in the Andes of Ecuador. We discover the bounty of plants, animals, and other organisms that live there as we help a zoologist look for the elusive olinguito, the first new mammal species identified in the Americas since 1978. It has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews, which called it "a breath of fresh air in the too-often-contrived world of bilingual books." Continue reading

alphabet alphabet book andean cloud forest andes animals art biodiversity cloud forest ecuador illustration process illustrations Lulu Delacre olinguito zoology

On Tuesday, January 26, 2016 we will release the results of the Diversity Baseline Survey, the first major study to look at diversity among publishing industry staff. The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS) focuses on four different aspects of diversity: race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. The goal is to establish a baseline that shows where we are now as an industry, and that will help us measure progress moving forward.

The DBS was inspired by a similar movement in the technology industry, led by Pinterest engineer Tracy Chou. Tracy pointed to tech's lack of diversity-and lack of data-and was able to galvanize the entire industry to release staff diversity figures in 2014. We posted a study on our blog called The Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley that breaks down the problem and the responses. After the tech industry released their statistics, several new initiatives were announced to encourage recruitment and retaining of diverse new talent. We wondered, could publishing do the same? Continue reading

diversity baseline survey diversity gap diversity in publishing Lee & Low

Last month, we were excited to announce the establishment of the Lee & Low and Friends Scholarship in conjunction with Simmons College. This scholarship will provide opportunities for students of color to enroll in the Simmons College graduate program in children's literature, one of the country's finest.

In this interview, we talk to two of the key players behind the new scholarship. Cathryn M. Mercier, PhD is the Director of the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College and the director of the center's M.A. and M.F.A. programs. Jason Low is the Publisher/Co-owner of LEE & LOW BOOKS. Continue reading

diversity baseline survey diversity in publishing interview Jason Low lee & low and friends scholarship scholarships simmons college

Released this month, Amazing Places is a collection of original poems hand-picked by acclaimed anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins that celebrates some of the amazingly diverse places in our nation. It has received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, which calls it " a broadly appealing testament to the American landscape and people." Continue reading

amazing places Christy Hale illustration process illustrations illustrator Lee Bennett Hopkins poetry Travel united states of america

Discussion about diversity in books, at least around here, is often focused on the US market, but the challenges we face regarding diversity here in the United States don't start and end within our borders. Many countries around the world find themselves struggling with the same growing gap between who is represented in their literature and who their citizens actually are.

The international scope of these problems presents us with a unique opportunity to learn from each other and to share knowledge. What works? What doesn't? What else can we try? Continue reading

diversity study england international publishing research UK publishing

In our new How We Did It series, we shine a spotlight on the people and
organizations doing important work to support diversity in publishing and beyond. Their stories and ideas are a dose of inspiration for all of us as we move forward in our work.
Today we are thrilled to have Kyle Zimmer, President, CEO, and Co-founder of First Book, with us. Here's how Kyle describes her organization: "First Book supports educational equality by providing high quality, new and relevant books and educational resources to teachers and caregivers serving the millions of children growing up in low-income families." Welome, Kyle! Continue reading

diversity in publishing first book kyle zimmer nonprofits

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New year, new goals! If one of your professional goals this year is to add more diversity to your school or classroom library, we're here with some inspiration to get you started.

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NYU Culturally Responsive Scorecard Tool to help parents, teachers, students, and community members determine the extent to which their schools’ English Language Arts curricula are (or are not) culturally responsive. Good template! 

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NYU Culturally Responsive Scorecard Tool to help parents, teachers, students, and community members determine the extent to which their schools’ English Language Arts curricula are (or are not) culturally responsive. Good template! 

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All the Wonders Books Between Podcast - Engaging students in a diversity audit!

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All the Wonders Books Between Podcast - Engaging students in a diversity audit!

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First up is how things went when I did a diversity check of my classroom library. If you listened to the last episode (#27 with librarian Sarah Threlkeld) you heard us chatting about this activity she did with her students to reflect on the diversity found in their school library. And I think even way back to Episode 18, I mentioned reading this fantastic blog post over at Lee & Low Books that shared how one teacher helped her class analyze the books in their room to find out how different genders and races are represented. I'll include a link to that article and the main framework of what I did is pulled directly from there. So I want to be clear - this is not my idea, but I'm sharing how it went for me with the idea that you might want to try it, too. First I'll run through the process and then discuss my major takeaways, and how I'll do it differently next year.

First, I showed my 5th graders two infographics. Both have been shared widely on social media and you've probably seen them, but I'll post them on the website so you can find them easily. The first one was a black and white image called "The Diversity Gap in Children's Books" and it shows a bar graph of the percent of kid's books in the past 21 years that contain multicultural content. And shows that sadly steady around 10% from 1994 to 2014. 2014 was a slight tick up to 14% but well below where it should be. This picture, which is put together by Lee & Low Books also includes pie charts that show the percent of the US population that are people of color and a projection that the U.S. population will be 57% minority in 2060, which really brings into focus the disparity.

The second infographic I showed them is from ReadingSpark and called "Diversity in Children's Books 2015" and is in color with illustrations showing the percents of various groups featured as characters in kid's books - 73.3% White and 12.5% Animals/Trucks, 7.6% African/African American, 3.3% Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific Americans, 2.4% Latina/o, and then 0.9% American Indian.

So, we gathered on the rug and huddled around the Promethean board where I had the images displayed. And I simply asked my students to look carefully at them both and to chat with a partner about what they noticed. I explained terms where necessary, but otherwise I just let them have a look and asked them to make some observations.

And from there, I pivoted the conversation to enlist their help in analyzing our own classroom library so that their information could help me when I ordered new books. And - I was truly moved by their eagerness. These ten and eleven year olds were ready to roll up their sleeves and dig in to see how our books stacked up. And we started by thinking about this, "What questions do you have about the diversity in our classroom library?" And they said things like:
How many books do we have by and about Native Americans? How many books have an African American main character? What genre has the most diversity? Are there more books about people of color than BY people of color? Do we have more books featuring boys or girls?
I'll be honest with you - their questions went beyond the scope of what I had planned. They went pretty deep and the data we pulled really only started to answer the questions they had.

So once they had some questions in mind, I had them pair up and grab one bin of books from our classroom library to start sorting through. Our bins are sorted by genre. I used a Google Sheet to record the genre of that bin and some other information. First, they separated out all the books with people on the cover and analyzed just those. Then they counted how many covers included a person of color and jotted that number down. And then they counted how many covers featured at least one girl. And from there, generated percentages using a calculator - which they enjoyed, but then I quickly learned that we needed a refresher on how to figure out percents.

As each pair worked, they added their data to a shared Google Doc so we could see the information come to life in real time. It was exciting and the kids were so engaged! I think that when they feel like they are doing real work, important work, and are helping you out in a genuine way, they are all in. And some recognized the injustice in the situation and were eager to start to set things (not right) but on a better path.

So - what did we discover? First up, I'll give you some examples of the data (flawed as it is). Starting with gender. One thing that stood out was that 81% of the biographies were about men. Not good! That's changing immediately. Also, realistic fiction seemed to have a better balance of girls and boys with most of those bins featuring kids of different genders. And Fantasy, which I thought was going to be worse, actually only between 9% and 50% only with boys on the cover. That was better than I was anticipating because sometimes that genre is known for a lack of gals. (And a quick side note about that. Now that I'm moving away from thinking about gender as a simple binary of boy or girl, I'm also wondering about better methods for categorizing and doing this type of analysis. So - if you have thoughts on that, please do let me know. There is a whole group of folks out there that want to be doing better and if you have an idea about how to make that happen, I'm absolutely listening.)

Okay - on to the data pulled about race and ethnicity. The percentage of books with no people of color at all on the cover was pretty high. The best category seemed to be realistic fiction which had percentages like 21%, 43%, 63% and one bin at 93%. Some of the least diverse categories were Fantasy with 79% , 80% and 100% of the books in those bins featuring only white people, and graphic novels with 85%. So, now it's pretty clear where are some particularly troublesome areas and when I go to purchase books, those genres will be my focus.

So, what did the kids say? Well, I think I'll give you a sampling of some of their comments:

In the words of one of my girls, "We have a lot of books about white boys in this room!" Yes, we do! And most of them are fantastic, but adding other voices is only going to help so that every kid can see themselves and see the wide range of experiences in our country and in our world.

"A lot of books have shadow people on the cover." They were referring to silhouettes, and this observation lead to some great discussion about what the publishers might intend with that. They were questioning how to categorize those types of covers and if we needed another category.

Another big topic that came up was that some forms of diversity weren't being accounted for in this exercise. And that all stemmed from the debate about what gender pile to put the book George in. Do we go by the clues on the cover which might suggest a boy? Or do we account for what we know of the story (which is about a transgender girl) and my students said, "We need another category, Mrs. Allen." Many students mentioned that religion or disability wasn't included in what we were looking for. Also, because we only used the visual of the cover, that is really limiting. A cover that includes a girl or a person of color does not mean that character plays a big part or that they are portrayed in a great way. Were they just the sidekick?

1. Do this earlier in the year. (We jumped in during the second to last week of school. I want this to be on kids' minds much earlier.)

2. Connect with another class doing the same thing and share results. I think that could be powerful.

3. Include more categories (maybe religion, disability, LGBTQ)

4. Do some analysis in other places (This could be a great teacher/librarian collaboration in the school library. Also examine the public library, a local bookstore, Scholastic flyers, or online stores.)

5. Take this to that next step and have kids research and recommend titles to fill out the gaps in our library. So that they are playing a part in creating a more diverse selection of books that they will love.

Mainly, I was just acutely aware of how limited this exercise was. And yet - I am so glad we did it! The data we gleaned is not going into some peer-reviewed journal, but it gave these kids (and me!) a taste of that data analysis. And, the best part, it lead to even more questions - and now they know that it's a question they should ask about the books surrounding them! And our shared spreadsheet is messy - some percents aren't accurate and some kids categorized a little differently. But, my hope, is that when they find themselves in a library or bookstore and pick up a book, they'll remember this and maybe carry those questions and discoveries forward with them and start to (seek out - no! That's too weak) start to demand more books that reflect our cultures and our communities.

And for us, let's not shy away from this work, as uncomfortable and complicated as it sometimes can be.

And as always, I really want to hear your ideas about this topic. You can tag me on Twitter or Instagram - our handle is @books_between or email me at booksbetween@gmail.com and I'd love to hear and share your ideas.

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Diversity Audit & A Conversation with Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Shang: Books Between, Episode 28

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First up is how things went when I did a diversity check of my classroom library. If you listened to the last episode (#27 with librarian Sarah Threlkeld) you heard us chatting about this activity she did with her students to reflect on the diversity found in their school library.

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Karen Jenson TLTB Diversity Audit - examples

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Karen Jenson TLTB Diversity Audit - examples

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SLJ - Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your Collection 

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SLJ - Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your Collection 

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The need for diverse and inclusive collections is clear. Karen Jensen, YA librarian and "Teen Librarian Toolbox" blogger, explains everything you need to know to get started on conducting your own diversity audit.

A diversity audit takes inventory and determines what's in a collection and what areas need to be better developed. It yields concrete data. This type of audit helps put the science in library science. In doing a diversity audit of my collection, my goal was to learn what percentage reflected something other than the experiences of straight, white, and non-disabled males, and to fill the gaps. I wanted to verify that I was doing a good job of transcending my worldview and internalized biases. I was not.

As a 45-year-old white woman, I am the dominant demographic in librarianship, though definitely not in the world at large. For a long time, I took for granted that I was building inclusive collections that would best serve my teens. Conducting a diversity audit made me look honestly at my collection development and forced me to step outside my comfort zone to accomplish the work I always claimed to be doing.

Initial research

Establishing a procedure for a diversity audit was challenging. There were not a lot of research or examples online. I found information for conducting a classroom diversity audit, and I discovered a resource about a Montessori classroom doing a toy diversity audit, which helped me establish basic practices.

Before beginning an audit, you need baseline data. I examined sources such as the U.S. Census to get a better idea of the world's population, and I used We Need Diverse Books, Lee and Low's Diversity Baseline Survey, and the Cooperative Children's Book Center data on children's publishing to understand the publishing landscape. The truth is, the state of diversity in publishing is not good, so those tasked with collection development need to work extra hard to ensure inclusive collections.

The process

With my research, I developed a system. My collection contained 2,000 items at the time. I printed a shelf list and imported the list into an Excel spreadsheet. I researched each author and made a notation as to whether the title involved characters who were something other than male, white, nondisabled, and heteronormative.

The initial research took months. I scoured the Internet for information about authors and titles. I examined a variety of published diversity lists (which I turned into a "Diverse Reads" readers' advisory notebook).

After annotating each title, I determined percentages. To do that, take the total counted for a part of collection and divide it by the total number of books in the collection. For example, if there are 200 titles with LGBTQIA+ representation, divide 200 by the total number of books in the collection (let's say that's 2,000 books). In that scenario, 10 percent of the collection includes LGBTQIA+ representation. That number can be compares with U.S. Census data to decide if its satisfactory. Research from a 2016 survey by the J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group found that 52 percent of Generation Z (people between the ages of 13 and 20) identified as something other than straight, meaning that more than half identify in some way as LGBTQIA+.

When there are areas with low percentages, use that data to target ordering to diversify your collection. For example, I served a very large and vocal LGBTQ group of teens, so I always assumed I was doing a good job of purchasing LGBTQ titles. What I found, however, was that less than three percent of my collection was LGBTQ-friendly. With that information, I sought lists of award-winning titles and yearly "best of" for the last couple of years.

When a complete audit is impractical

With a large collection, auditing the entire collection may be near impossible. Instead, create random samples from each section, and audit those. If a random sample is done correctly, it provides valuable information. Remember that one of the goals is to help those involved in collection development determine their own internal bias and pinpoint areas they may need to be more consciously aware of when selecting materials.

Another type of diversity audit can be done with subject headings. This works for some areas better than others, however. For example, most LGBTQIA+ literature has a subject heading indicating that it falls into this category. However, not all books will have a subject heading that indicates, for instance, a character is black or Latinx. We can work to expand and add subject headings, but that means asking our catalogers to add those subject headings or notes. Kirkus now includes a mention in their reviews about the ethnicity of the characters, and these notes could easily be ordered into our catalogs, but this will take some intentionality and additional coordination.

There is also what I call a "reverse diversity audit." Take a list of titles on a traditionally marginalized people or group and determine how many of those titles on the list are in your collection. For example, look at how many titles from the yearly Stonewall and Rainbow lists are in your collection. This method isn't as concrete as a true diversity audit, but it still offers useful data.

If you're doing a reverse diversity audit, I recommend creating an annual cycle to keep you on track, like the weeding calendars that many librarians maintain. In January, you may check for Native American representation; in February, look at Asian representation; in March, focus on LGBTQIA+ representation; and so on. That way, each month you take a targeted area and make sure it is well represented in your collection. This doesn't mean you aren't ordering titles throughout the year for each area of representation; it just means that you are going in once a year and holding yourself accountable.

Collection maintenance-and a few caveats

After that initial diversity audit in 2016, I began doing mini-audits on each book order to continue to develop an inclusive collection. I print each book order and make notes in the margins. I then use the same basic formula to determine the breakdown of my book order before submitting. I also input that data into my spreadsheet to keep an up-to-date look at the diversity of the overall collection.

Because we know representation matters, what we look for is always expanding. In addition to examining ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and disability, I expanded my criteria to include topics such as body acceptance, socioeconomic status, and mental health. Don't be overwhelmed. There are a lot of other librarians, authors, publishers, and readers out there doing this work as well, so use them as resources. We Need Diverse Books is a go-to resource, but a Google search can also yield recommended booklists on a wide variety of topics as well.

Remember-not all representation is good representation. A book may have a black main character but might be a problematic slavery narrative that reinforces stereotypes. Or it may be a book with Jewish representation but is another Holocaust book in a collection with many. There is nothing wrong with books about slavery or the Holocaust, but all titles cannot center on the same scenarios. Jewish children and teens need representation that doesn't remind them that they were, and are, so reviled by some that they were literally marked for genocide. And black children and teens need to see themselves in books that aren't focused on slavery and don't include stereotypes. We're looking for more than representation-we need healthy representation that affirms our teens' experiences and helps people outside that group to question and challenge harmful stereotypes.

For more resources and information on conducting a diversity audit on your library collection, check out this series of posts on the "Teen Librarian Toolbox" blog.

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Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your Collection

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The need for diverse and inclusive collections is clear. Karen Jensen, YA librarian and "Teen Librarian Toolbox" blogger, explains everything you need to know to get started on conducting your own diversity audit. A diversity audit takes inventory and determines what's in a collection and what areas need to be better developed.

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Join us for a panel discussion with collection development librarians Betsy Bird of the Evanston Public Library and Dontaná McPherson-Joseph of the Oak Park Public Library. They will discuss the process of conducting a diversity audit and the results that led to changes in procedures and new initiatives for their collections.

Betsy Bird is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library. She is the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library and author of Children's Literature Gems: Choosing Them and Using Them in Your Library Career from ALA Editions. Her blog A Fuse #8 Production is hosted by School Library Journal.

Dontaná McPherson-Joseph is a Collection Management Librarian at Oak Park Public Library. Her to-read pile is a tower, so she is almost always reading two books simultaneously. She appreciates books with great cover art.

This webinar is being offered by the Adult Reading Round Table ( https://www.arrtreads.org/) in partnership with RAILS.

This webinar was recorded on December 8, 2020, and is approximately 60 mins long.

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Diversity Audits for Library Collections

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Join us for a panel discussion with collection development librarians Betsy Bird of the Evanston Public Library and Dontaná McPherson-Joseph of the Oak Park Public Library. They will discuss the process of conducting a diversity audit and the results that led to changes in procedures and new initiatives for their collections.

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Blog series that shares step by step directions for doing a diverse book audit

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Read part 2 of the Diversity Audit blog series here! Read the third part of the diversity audit blog series here!
I first heard the term "diversity audit" earlier this past school year. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but I did not know how to approach it. This past spring I was fortunate that my district "sent" me to a virtual mini-institute hosted by Library Journal called "Auditing, Evaluating, and Diversifying the Library Collection."

This mini-institute gave me a lot of excellent information about diverse books, authors, and #ownvoices, which naturally helped reinforce the importance of doing a diversity audit. Unfortunately it did not really provide any practical "how-to" information to help me understand exactly how to do a diversity audit. I've google'd around a bit and stumbled across a few School Library Journal posts and blogs about diversity audits, but again, I have not really found any comprehensive practical guides. So I am figuring it out as I go, and figured I'd write about my process here. There may be better ways to do this, but this is the way I have come up with, and so far it seems to be working!

Getting Started

**I think a diversity audit, much like a genrefication, makes more sense after your collection has been weeded, since it means less titles to audit. However, the case could also be made for doing it before weeding because you could then use the audit info to help in deciding if a book should be weeded of not**

Why do a Diversity Audit?

First I think it is important to do some PD on the We Need Diverse Books and the #Ownvoices movements, if you are not already familiar with them. In this blog post I am not going to cover the reasons it is important to intentionally, and even aggressively, be working to diversify our collections. That conversation could really take up an entire blog series of its own, so I'm going to proceed here with the assumption that the reader already agrees with the necessity and is just looking for a guide to help get started on a diversity audit! If you need more information on why its important to build diverse collections, check out the linked sites above.

You may also want to google around a bit to read up more information on Diversity Audits in general, before you proceed. I believe a diversity audit is a critical step in building truly representative collections, because no matter how well we think we are doing at this, I promise that our unconscious biases are getting in our way, without us knowing.

We may think we are building representative collections, but we need concrete data to be sure. There is a reason that the Master of Library & Information Science is a master's science degree. Librarianship is a science, and data and research should be the fuel driving our collection development, and other, decisions and goals. Regardless of whether you have the MSLIS degree or not, you're here because you are ready to jump into the science of a diversity audit. Yay! So let's get to it.

Choosing Your Categories

After you have decided to move forward, and have gathered your initial background information, it is time to choose your categories. Meaning you need to decide what types of diversity you want to account for in your audit. It can be as simple as just a couple categories like: Author/character ethnicity: white, not white, lgbtqia+ or not etc or it can be more comprehensive as you want.

I chose to do a very, VERY comprehensive audit instead of a simple one, so I currently have 36 different categories. One reason I decided to be comprehensive is that I have committed my professional goal for this year to being truly aggressive about decentralizing whiteness and decolonizing my practice, myself, and my library collection. I also figured that since, no matter how many categories you audit for, you still need to analyze every single book individually, it makes sense to do as many categories as you want. I am always of the mind that if you are going to take the time to do something then you might as well do it the right way (or comprehensively) so you don't have to go back and do it again later. I also had some categories that I knew would be of particular interest to many of my students, such as "1st generation american," "immigrant," "biracial," "adopted," etc. Here are the categories I chose to audit for:

Author:

white, cis, straight, nondisabled, neurotypical male

white, cis, straight, nondisabled, neurotypical female

diverse author (something other than white, cis, straight, nondisabled, neurotypical)

#ownvoices (book is written by a diverse author AND the character has the same ethnic, racial, gender, sexuality, etc identity as the author)

Main Characters:

Initial Identity markers
Male, Female, Nonbinary/Trans, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, Asian (broken up by region of asia), biracial or "BIPOC unspecified,"

Additional Identity Markers
plus size, lgbtqia+, immigrant, 1st gen american, physical disability or chronic illness, neurodiverse or learning disability, nonholocaust related Jewish, holocaust related Jewish, Muslim, Homelessness, Adopted, #ownvoices joy, mental health/trauma, addiction, set outside U.S.

Run Your Copy/Titles Report

I am choosing to record my data collection in an excel spreadsheet instead of inputting everything directly into destiny at first. I will be uploading the information from the spreadsheet into Destiny when I am finished. I decided to work in the spreadsheet directly at first because it is much faster than having to open up and manually alter every single MARC record. Its quicker for me to annotate a spreadsheet and then use the spreadsheet later to create .txt files that I can upload directly into Destiny. I will do that at the end to add each of my data points to the copy records as copy categories. I'll go into that part more in depth further down the blog post.

Now, if you doing your audit by genre, you'll want to filter the results so it only shows one genre at a time. You do this by selecting the row showing your categories and then go up to the top of the spreadsheet to click the "sort & filter" button. All of the column headers will now show a white square with an arrow in it (seen above). You can click on the arrow for the sublocation column and then deselect "select all" and only select the genre you want to start with. You'll notice that the spreadsheet now only shows books within the chosen genre. You can later remove this filter by selecting the "sort & filter" button again at any time.

Start Auditing / Researching

Now that everything is set up, it is time to go through the list one book at a time, filling out the audit report. I used a plethora of tools for this. But first I went through and filled out the ones I knew off the top of my head (lord of the rings, harry potter, etc). Then I went back to the top and worked my way down one at a time.

I relied most heavily on goodreads, but I also had to use google a lot to dig deeper. I start by pulling up the book on goodreads and scanning of "ctrl+F"ing to look for keywords such as "diverse," "poc," "lgbt," "ownvoices," "disability," etc. If I did not think I found everything I needed then I went into google and searched things like "book title + diversity rep"or "book title +lgbt" or "author name + diversity" or "author name + ethnicity/lgbt" and etc.

As I went through each book I just noted my findings by entering a "1" into the cell on excel for that category. Once I got into a groove, I found that I went through an entire genre pretty quickly!

Download My Fantasy Audit Info

You can download my fantasy audit info if you want. If your library has a lot of similar titles you may find it helps you get through your's more quickly. I will add the other genres as I complete them! Please note that for the criteria where I audited the character's diversity, I tried not to use side characters, only main characters. I did not want tokenism to skew my results, so just because a book has an underdeveloped side character of color (like Dean in Harry Potter), I did not indicate that on the audit. I only marked off that category if the identity marker belonged to a main or fully developed character. In some books with big casts, like Rick Riordan's recent books, I did include a lot of the characters as long as they were genuinely developed and were not just kind of "token" characters, in my opinion

Reporting Your Findings

Once you finish filling out your audit, you'll next want to compile, analyze, and report your findings. I chose to do this by converting my data into graphs. I have never been much of a numbers person, so the visual component of graphs helps me personally to evaluate the numbers. Graphs are also more successful for sharing on social media, in newsletters, PD sessions, etc.

In order to gather my numbers, I used the "sort & filter" function in excel again. I went through each column one at a time and filtered out the blank cells so that I could capture the number of "tallies" each column/category has. I then input those numbers into a free chart creator I found on google called meta-chart.com. Here are my initial charts:

Add Your Data to Destiny (If you want to)

If you are planning to add your data directly to the destiny records, there are a couple different ways to do that. Some people add the data right into the MARC records. I am still figuring that part out, and figuring out whether that is something I want to do.

I am definitely adding the data to my copy records via copy categories. I am doing this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, patrons can easily browse by copy category, so students looking for books with a specific type of diversity will easily be able to do so on the search page of destiny. Additionally, having the info as copy categories makes it easy to run reports with that info later. It is also very easy to add copy categories in batches using barcode lists, resource lists, sublocation, etc. It is also easy to add them as you catalog new books into destiny. I am a huge fan of copy categories, personally. I use them all the time, even more then I use resource lists of collections.

To create your copy categories go to the "c atalog" page and select the "copy category tab."

Next, add each of your audit categories as a copy category.

Create a .txt file barcode list for each audit category

I do this by going through my excel sheet one column at a time. One by one I filter the spreadhseet by each audit category (column). Then I copy the barcode list and paste it into editpad. org and save it.

First I filter by the first column (audit category)

Then I copy the barcode column

Then I paste the barcode list on an editpad.org and save it. Repeat for each column!

Use barcode list .txt file to batch update Destiny records

Repeat this step for the barcode list for each column category!

What I learned or What I'll Change

One thing I know I'll change is that I will be adding more category columns for the author diversity. My current categories check thoroughly for character diversity inputs, but the author categories are limited to essentially diverse vs nondiverse. I want to have more specific data on the authors so I'll be adding more categories for that.

Happy Diversity Audits, everyone!

I will update this blog post, or maybe write more posts, as I progress further into my audit process. So far I've got about 15% of my fiction collection audited!

If you like my graphic, check out my zazzle store in the link below!

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Read part 2 of the Diversity Audit blog series here!Read the third part of the diversity audit blog series here!I first heard the term "diversity audit" earlier this past school year. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but I did not know how to approach it.

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Lists of book stores and other links to finding diverse titles.

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Where can you find diverse books? Right here! We've compiled the following list of sites that offer recommendations for diverse titles. Our list is not exhaustive, and we welcome suggestions ...