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April 2021 OASL Board Statement Against Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

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April 2021 OASL Board Statement Against Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

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APALA's Anti-Asian Racism Resources for K-12, which include resources for educators and students, title recommendations, anti-bullying resources, articles, diversity audits, and more.

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Information Literacy and Historical Primary Sources: Addressing Difficult Topics

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Information Literacy and Historical Primary Sources: Addressing Difficult Topics

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From the Library of Congress, this webinar  offers strategies to address difficult topics by applying information literacy approaches to historical primary sources.

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In a recent webinar for teachers, we offered strategies to address difficult topics by applying information literacy approaches to historical primary sources. Situating items in historical context, asking who was behind the information, analyzing claims and evidence, and comparing what other sources say about the topic helps learners build a richer understanding of the complexity of the past.

We opened the webinar with the 1942 image At the bus station in Durham, North Carolinato introduce the topic of Jim Crow and to practice primary source analysis skills. We asked questions selected from the Teachers Guide: Analyzing Photographs to guide the analysis. Participants noticed some visible texts: "Colored Waiting Room" and "Hitler's Love Life Revealed." They described the clothing and posture of the people in the photograph, noting the man's tie, suspenders, and hat. They reflected that his clothing looked a bit dressed up. They wondered what he might be thinking as he stood under the sign. Some wondered when it was taken and why. Others wondered what other public spaces had separate waiting rooms.

Next, we introduced newspaper articles from early in the 20th century to gain understanding of context, antecedent events, and multiple perspectives. We invited participants to spend a few minutes carefully reading a 1915 letter to the editor " Wants 'Jim Crow' Law All Over... " and then discussed the writer's claims and evidence offered to support that claim. Many participants noted the argument for separate but equal accommodations. We next scanned headlines and opening paragraphs of a selection of other articles from the page for context about what was happening in the country and the world at the time. Participants noted concerns about events drawing the U.S. into the war as well as citizenship questions.

An article from 1900 offered another perspective on an unexpected result from Jim Crow laws: a sheriff traveling with white and African American prisoners could not ride the train because he could not supervise the prisoners in two cars. The article also offered an opportunity to consider the importance of exploring who is behind information. After identifying the claim and evidence presented in the article - skills practiced with the previous article - participants scanned the page for clues about the likely audience of the newspaper. They noted several pictures of African American men and speculated that one main audience for the paper was African American readers. Next, they turned to the page with information "About Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938," which indicated that the paper was founded by "13 former Richmond slaves, [and] initially edited by Edmund Archer Randolph, the first African American graduate of Yale Law School."

We concluded by pointing participants to the Jim Crow and Segregation primary source set, from which all of these items were selected, with the suggestion that students might further research the history of Jim Crow laws and practices in the set or in the collections of the Library of Congress. Let us know what your students discover!

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Teaching Strategies | Teaching with the Library of Congress

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In a recent webinar for teachers, we offered strategies to address difficult topics by applying information literacy approaches to historical primary sources. Situating items in historical context, asking who was behind the information, analyzing claims and evidence, and comparing what other sources say about the topic helps learners build a richer understanding of the complexity of the past.

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August 2020 OASL Board Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

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August 2020 OASL Board Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

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A Library of Anti-Racist Resources for Educators

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A Library of Anti-Racist Resources for Educators

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"In Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain, Hammond explains how traditional methods of instruction are based on the dominant culture's perception of education. These methods contribute to the achievement gap as well as limit the cognitive development of underrepresented groups, specifically ELL and students of color. Hammond weaves the importance of understanding how one's culture influences their cognitive learning process. Applying neuroscience research, Hammond identifies key instructional strategies that support the growth mindset of culturally responsive teaching practitioners." - Teacher Michelle Ellis
Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in School, by Mica Pollock For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, by Christopher Emdin
"After reading this, my entire perspective on classroom management has changed. The examples Emdin used could have been taken from my own experiences in the classroom. From now on, instead of enforcing draconian 'law and order,' I will take active steps to empower my students to use their voices as opposed to forcing them to conform and erase who they are." - Teacher Alex Vicchio How To Be An Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy, by April Baker-Bell We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be, by Cornelius Minor "Cornelius Minor facilitated my introduction to his book We Got This during a teacher leadership institute here in Arizona. The book makes equity work feel achievable with a clear framework of suggestions for implementing change, such as trying something new for five days and reflecting on its impact. It helps you to focus on what matters most in your classroom." - Teacher Erica Davis We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom, by Bettina L. Love
"This book has been an awakening on many levels. Envisioning educational justice through abolitionist teaching has completely inspired my approach in the classroom."- Educator Mary DiPaola
If have a book you'd like to recommend for this list, please share it here!

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A Library of Anti-Racist Resources for Educators

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"In Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain, Hammond explains how traditional methods of instruction are based on the dominant culture's perception of education. These methods contribute to the achievement gap as well as limit the cognitive development of underrepresented groups, specifically ELL and students of color.

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh 

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh 

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A classic essay that helps beginners on the topic start thinking about privilege.

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'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' and 'Some Notes for Facilitators' - National SEED Project

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Downloadable PDF © 1989 Peggy McIntosh 'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' first appeared in P...

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What to do with "classic" books that are also racist...

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Figuring out to how to handle classics that critics say haven't aged well can be tough for librarians charged with putting together school collections. Students have been reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the "Little House" series for generations, and for many years, having these "classics" available in school libraries was a given. But today, some media specialists are questioning the proper place for these and other novels.

Just two years ago, the American Library Association (ALA) decided to drop Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from its children's literature award, citing her work's "dated cultural attitudes toward Indigenous people and people of color." The phrase "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" shows up multiple times in Little House on the Prairie. ALA was careful to note that renaming the award was not an attempt to "censor, limit, or deter access to Wilder's books and materials."

Andy Spinks didn't consider it to be censorship when he weeded Wilder's series out of his collection at Campbell High School in Smyrna, GA, a suburban school about 20 minutes outside of Atlanta with a student body that's 20 percent white.

"These aren't kids who are really going to be interested in rolling across the plains in a horse and buggy," says Spinks, one of two library media specialists at the school.

Spinks stresses that he doesn't support weeding to "intentionally circumvent" reconsideration policies but notes that "problematic books also often meet the criteria for weeding."

He adds that it's not hard to discard a book or a collection when it's somehow problematic and also unpopular with your students.

But what about when a popular classic is also seen by some as problematic?

"Sometimes I think people don't know what to do with those books," says Meg B. Allison, a teacher librarian at U-32 Middle and High School in East Montpelier, VT.

The problem with Atticus Finch

Published in 1960, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird quickly became popular with readers throughout the country and around the world. The novel is set during the Great Depression and tells the story of Atticus Finch, a small-town Alabama lawyer who takes the case of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. The story is told through the eyes of Finch's young daughter, Scout. The Pulitzer Prize winner has never been out of print.

In 2018, PBS named it America's favorite novel, following a national survey of nearly 4.3 million Americans.

"People love that book, but they ignore so many of the racist tropes and the depictions of people of color that are derogatory," says Julia E. Torres, a teacher librarian who serves five schools through her job with Denver Public Schools.

Critics say the novel perpetuates stereotypes about African Americans and doesn't give its Black characters any agency. But the book is still assigned reading for many students, and it remains on the shelves at most high schools.

"There's a lot of area in between taking a book off the shelf and deemphasizing it," says Spinks. " To Kill a Mockingbird used to be my favorite book, so I would recommend it all the time. Now I don't do that."

Instead, Spinks says he encourages students who read it to keep in mind that the book examines "racism from a white perspective."

The novel has faced frequent challenges for its language. The N-word is used liberally in the book, and some parents have complained that reading the book aloud in class is inappropriate.

Fans of the book say it teaches tolerance and helps to awaken racial consciousness.

That's a point that Torres questions. "If it were so successful at raising racial consciousness throughout the United States all these decades, why are people still forbidding their students from reading The Hate U Give or going to see the movie?" Torres asks. "Also, if it [is being read] in high school, that's pretty far along in the game for people to be learning about racial injustice or racialized aspects of our justice system."

Torres has taught the novel a few times in the past, but if a teacher asks for her help teaching it today, she usually suggests another book, like Samira Ahmed's Internment, set in the near future, about a teen sent to a U.S. internment camp for Muslim American people. Or, she suggests they teach To Kill a Mockingbird using excerpts or through a critical consciousness lens, which would include lessons on white saviorism and the weaponization of white women's tears.

Some librarians suggest using modern novels such as Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give to provide context to classics.

"The themes of To Kill a Mockingbird are about coming of age and agency and finding one's voice as a youngster," says Allison. "Well, Angie Thomas does that very, very well with The Hate U Give, and so they've been augmenting and supplementing curriculum with some more contemporary choices, especially written by #OwnVoices authors."

In 2015, author Corinne Duyvis started the #OwnVoices movement on Twitter. The movement aimed to support kid lit that spotlighted diverse characters written by writers from the same background.

Sometimes authors backed by the movement face obstacles when it comes to getting their work in front of young readers in the classroom. The Hate U Give, which tells the story of Starr Carter, a Black high school student who witnesses the fatal shooting of her friend Khalil by a white police officer, has been challenged because of its language and its depiction of police.

Read: Kid Lit Authors (Re)Make History

Huck Finn and the N-word

Torres argues that many people who challenge these books ignore problematic classics such as Mockingbird and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain's novel, which follows a white boy and a runaway slave who make their way along the Mississippi River on a raft, includes the N-word hundreds of times. Torres notes that reading it can cause distress for Black students, particularly if they're the only one in a class.

"A child of color sitting in the classroom listening to that word said over and over again with no discussion about it, which I know happens, that's upsetting," says Torres.

Allison says that's where a good teacher should step in and provide information about when the book was written and some of the factors that might have gone into Twain's choice to use that word.

"You have to understand that time period and what language was doing at the time and compare it to what we're doing now and not just let students read that book in a classroom setting without some sort of context and support," says Allison.

Kimberly N. Parker, assistant director of Shady Hill Teacher Training Center in Cambridge, MA, says that type of support is important when teaching texts such as Huckleberry Finn.

Parker, who holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, spent nearly 20 years in the classroom before taking on her current role and often taught the novel, which was required.

"The problem is that we can do so much damage and harm," says Parker. "We do harm if we don't teach that text in ways that are antiracist, if they are not culturally sensitive, and also if that's the only time that children have to see themselves reflected in text. I'm really convinced that we can do better."

Curation vs. censorship

Sometimes that impetus to do better comes from parents and other members of the community.

Miranda Doyle, district librarian for the Lake Oswego (OR) School District, where she oversees 10 schools, says it's not unusual for the district to receive informal requests to reconsider a book.

"If it's one of our assigned curriculum books, then I think it would be worth looking at whether that's something we want to continue to teach, whereas if it's in the library, I would advise leaving it on the shelf as long as it's something that is currently within the guidelines of what we have in the library," says Doyle, who also serves as the intellectual freedom chair for the Oregon Association of School Libraries. For many librarians like Doyle, the answer is to add more contemporary books to the collection through careful curation. "Making sure when we're promoting books, when we're putting up displays, when we're doing reading programs and we're adding to the curriculum that we are choosing books that are not problematic and are, in fact, diverse and respectful and from a wide variety of authors," says Doyle.

That's also the approach favored by Allison, who says she worries about librarians who pull books simply because they find them personally offensive.

"That's a slippery slope, because for some people an LGBTQ character might be offensive," says Allison. "I firmly believe in the freedom to read statement by the American Library Association that even books that are offensive to some people need to be available to students, so from the standpoint of my librarianship and my role in the library, I'm not removing texts, but I certainly may not promote them or display them."

She cited her decision not to display the work of Sherman Alexie last year during Native American History Month.

"I put [out] Tommy Orange," says Allison, referring to Orange's novel There There, about 12 Native American characters convening at the Big Oakland (CA) powwow. "I put other authors out, especially #OwnVoices authors, and try to be as inclusive as possible to have texts that are by authors from diverse perspectives, but I'm not removing Sherman Alexie's books from my library shelves because he's somebody that's been implicated in the MeToo movement."

The author of several novels including the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has faced allegations of sexual harassment in recent years and issued a statement in 2018 acknowledging "there are women telling the truth about my behavior."

Still, librarians note that they're trying to strike a delicate balance. "Trying not to censor and not to further oppression at the same time is challenging," says Spinks.

Torres, who says she would never tell another educator not to teach a certain book, is not in favor of pulling texts from the shelves. "I believe in a child's right to read what they want," she says.

But, she says, it's important to allow the canon to grow and evolve.

"I do think teachers need to work together with their students to figure out what do we value as a community, what do we want to learn about, what are we curious about?" she says. "What texts can we bring into our community that will help us grow?"

Freelance journalist Marva Hinton is a contributing editor to Edutopia and the host of the "ReadMore" podcast, an interview show that primarily features authors of color.

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Little House, Big Problem: What To Do with "Classic" Books That Are Also Racist

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Figuring out to how to handle classics that critics say haven't aged well can be tough for librarians charged with putting together school collections. Students have been reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the "Little House" series for generations, and for many years, having these "classics" available in school libraries was a given.

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SLJ Opinion Piece about Police in Picture Books

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SLJ Opinion Piece about Police in Picture Books

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Great read and a great tool to help us assess the message we're sending students about police brutality.

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We need more titles to counter the single narrative in picture books: Police help everyone. Police catch bad guys. Police keep everyone safe.

My one-year-old daughter is really into trucks right now. One of her favorite books of the moment is I Love Trucks by Philemon Sturges. Every time I read it to her, she points to the trucks pictured in the back and makes me name them. She starts with the one labeled "police truck," with the description, "A police truck often carries rescue equipment, such as inflatable boats and a giant airbag."

I contrasted that with the police trucks I saw today on my Twitter feed, in the downtown streets of my city-Oakland, California-all weekend, through the massive protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Did they contain inflatable boats? I watched video after video, unable to look away, as police shot canisters of tear gas, flashbang grenades, and rubber bullets into crowds of people seven blocks from the building where I usually work, the Main Library of the Oakland Public Library (OPL).

The Main Library is where, in 2017, after the murder of Philando Castile, a group of OPL staff wrote and published Evaluating Children's Books about Police: a toolkit for librarians and other evaluators of children's literature. As I wrote in a May 2018 SLJ article, the toolkit asks some questions about the books that exist for young children about police, most of which are either picture books (fiction) or "community helper" nonfiction books meant to teach children about the work of police officers. Those questions include:
Does this book acknowledge the feelings of fear and anxiety children may have on seeing police? Does this book acknowledge that some people have negative experiences with police officers? Does the text of this book assert that police only stop people justifiably, without the influence of racial bias?
We did not include a list of "recommended" books for kids about police, books that acknowledged the police oppression experienced by communities of color and depicted police in a way that would feel realistic to a child who had lived experience of police brutality. We stated in the toolkit is that we wanted those who read it to evaluate books on their own and make their own decisions.

But here's the bigger reason: there weren't any. Every book we looked at described police as helpers, heroes, someone to trust and call on for help.

I Love Trucks was published in 1999, eight years after video emerged of police beating Rodney King and the subsequent civil unrest. The author, illustrator, editors and art directors involved would have been very much aware of this documented instance of police brutality and the heavy police response that followed.

The text about police in this book-that police trucks "carr[y] rescue equipment, such as inflatable boats and a giant airbag"-aligns with a trend I noticed in other children's books about police published in 1992 and after. I reviewed 23 picture books about police for the toolkit, acquired through my library system and statewide interlibrary loan. All of them said that police help people, but some tried to further explain police work and got stuck. One book said that police officers have computers in their cars and sometimes ride in helicopters, and that was about it.

Read:Social Justice: Fifteen Titles To Address Inequity, Equality, and Organizing for Young Readers

What's changed since we published the toolkit in 2017? Very little. Jessica Walker, library aide at OPL, reviewed children's books released since 2017 and found about half a dozen more that describe police as helpers, heroes, and friends. Despite the evidence to the contrary, we keep telling kids the lie: Police help everyone. Police catch bad guys. Police keep everyone safe.

Librarians, as a demographic, are overwhelmingly white, and when we continue to purchase these books and have them in our collections, we perpetuate the lie. Presenting police as community helpers without a counterpoint available-that police might harm them-is gaslighting for children who see police brutality in their home, in their neighborhood, on TV, and on their parents' phones.

Of even more concern is the continuous production of picture books with police as friendly characters, including many TV tie-in titles (LEGO, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, etc.) and books like I'm Afraid Your Teddy Is In Trouble Today, which I reviewed in the context of our toolkit on Reading While White in 2018. In Teddy, the reader arrives home to find the house trashed and police officers on the front steps, preparing to arrest a naughty teddy bear. It's all very tongue-in- cheek, and of course Teddy gets released with a warning. As I said in my review, this is no joke for a child who's come home to find a parent arrested. Who are books like this for? Who's not going to be in on the "joke?" (Frighteningly, a cursory search on YouTube reveals Teddy as a favorite book for police officer story times.)

There is one book I've recommended many times, published shortly after our toolkit was released. Momma, Did You Hear The News? (above) by Sanya Whitaker Gragg depicts an African American family talking about staying safe with police after a police killing. There's also Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice, released in 2018, which does an admirable job showing two families' reactions to a police killing. These two books are important for library collections. Not My Idea: a Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higgenbotham (currently available to download for free from Dottir Press) is an excellent example of effective writing for very young children on this scary topic, even though the focus is on a White child's experience. There are several worthy picture books that deal with incarcerated parents, such as Missing Daddy by Mariame Kaba. Incarceration follows arrest, though, and the trauma of a parental arrest doesn't have a similar presence in children's literature.

What's still missing are nonfiction books that acknowledge the reality of police violence against communities of color. Books that say:

Police should help people, but sometimes they do not. Police carry weapons and sometimes they hurt people. When that happens, many people get very, very angry. They protest to show how angry they are. You might feel angry at the police, too. It is okay to feel angry. I am very angry.

Amy Martin is the community relations librarian at Oakland Public Library. All views expressed are Martin's own and not necessarily those of her employer.

Read:An Educator's Guide to Stamped, Antiracism, and You

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evaluating children’s books about police

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i’m afraid your teddy is in trouble today

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something happened in our town: a child's story about racial injustice

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Police Picture Books Revisited: the Lie White Adults Read to Children | Opinion

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We need more titles to counter the single narrative in picture books: Police help everyone. Police catch bad guys. Police keep everyone safe. My one-year-old daughter is really into trucks right now. One of her favorite books of the moment is I Love Trucks by Philemon Sturges.

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July 2020 OASL Board Anti-Racism Statement

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July 2020 OASL Board Anti-Racism Statement

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In July, the OASL board released an anti-racist statement.  You can find it here.

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The group of teachers behind DisruptTexts takes often-taught literature from the canon and considers it with a critical lens, often providing classroom discussion ideas around non-dominant representation in the work and beyond.

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Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages Padlet

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Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages Padlet

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Expertly curated by Dr. Nicole A. Cooke at the University of South Carolina

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Jacqueline Woodson's Shares Essential Book for Discussing Racism With Kids

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Jacqueline Woodson's Shares Essential Book for Discussing Racism With Kids

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From Oprah Magazine

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These Children’s Books About Race Can Help Start Essential Conversations With Your Kids

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These reads selected by author Jacqueline Woodson will help us “decide whose narrative we will not only choose to see, but choose to believe.”

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Overdue Fines: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How Eliminating Them Can Benefit Public Libraries (Research Paper, 2020)
[ Social Library, Fines Edition [WebJunction] (2019)
NCompass Live: Eliminating Late Fines is a Win-Win for Your Library and Community (Recorded Online Session) (2019) Eliminating Fines FAQ - Colorado Virtual Library (2019) Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity (American Library Association, 2019) LONG OVERDUE: Eliminating Fines on Overdue Materials to Improve Access to San Francisco Public Library (2019) It's Not Fine to Fine (a website dedicated to removing library fines in Australia) (2019) Eliminating Library Late Fees and Overdue Fines to Increase Health Equity (The Network for Public Health Law, 2018) Removing Barriers to Access: Eliminating Fines and Fees on Children's Materials (Meg J Depriest, prepared for the Colorado State Library, 2016) Removing Barriers to Access: Eliminating Fines and Fees for a Win-Win for your Library and Community (Online Learning Series, Colorado State Library 2017) [Archived webinar] ALA Policy Statement: Library Services to the Poor (2012)Economic Barriers to Information Access (ALA, 1993)
"All library policies and procedures, particularly those involving fines, fees, or other user charges, should be scrutinized for potential barriers to access."
"The American Library Association shall implement these objectives by:
1. Promoting the removal of all barriers to library and information services, particularly fees and overdue charges."
Salt Lake City Public Library (Removed all fines in 2017)
Recommendation from Executive Director Peter Bromberg
Articles and Research
Supporting Documentation
(Used with permission, many thanks Pete!)

Free Access to Information (ALA Policy Manual B.4.2 [formerly 50.3])
"The American Library Association asserts that the charging of fees and levies for information services, including those services utilizing the latest information technology, is discriminatory in publicly supported institutions providing library and information services."

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Overdue Fines: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How Eliminating Them Can Benefit Public Libraries (Research Paper, 2020) [Social Library, Fines Edition [WebJunction] (2019) NCompass Live: Eliminating Late Fines is a Win-Win for Your Library and Community (Recorded Online Session) (2019) Eliminating Fines FAQ - Colorado Virtual Library (2019) Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of...

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American slavery began 400 years ago this month. This is referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the country’s true origin.

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University of Maine

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This week is intended to provide a supportive space to learn, share information, and take action toward racial justice. We are excited to share that there are over 2000 participants from all over the United States (and some international representation), ranging from middle schoolers to retirees! We're glad you are joining us on this journey. Some things to consider:

Working toward racial justice is hard, important work. You may feel joy, excitement, and a sense of purpose. However, you may also experience pain, anger, shame, confusion, or denial about ways in which your lives affect, and are affected by, racial inequity. Let's try to spend this week sitting with any discomfort we feel and moving forward with our antiracist practice.

We all will make mistakes - it's inevitable. But, let's commit to learning from our mistakes, and to continue this work with care and accountability.

Given the subject matter of this program, you may feel upset or overwhelmed. For example, you may notice that you or someone you know has been contributing to racial inequity (whether consciously or unconsciously), or you may realize that your participation in this program is a painful reliving of experiences you have had with racism. Wherever possible, we encourage you to listen to Layla Saad who, in her book Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, states: "You have to decide what is going to be the anchor that keeps you committed to this work, whether it is a commitment to antioppression and the dignity of BIPOC, your commitment to your own healing, your commitment to being a better friend or family member to BIPOC, or your commitment to your own personal or spiritual values" (p. 20). When you're feeling upset or overwhelmed, consider why it is so hard, and what your anchor(s) may be.

This is long, enduring work that will go well beyond this week. As part of this challenge, we will create an antiracist action plan for the rest of 2020. We hope this helps us all stay connected and committed to this work.

This program was designed by Madelyn Woods, PhD student in Earth and Climate Sciences, Anila Karunakar, Director of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and Jen Bonnet, Social Sciences and Humanities Librarian, all at the University of Maine. The University of Maine recognizes that it is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation, where issues of water and territorial rights, and encroachment upon sacred sites, are ongoing. Penobscot homeland is connected to the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations - the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac - through kinship, alliances and diplomacy. The university also recognizes that the Penobscot Nation and the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations are distinct, sovereign, legal and political entities with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination.Have questions about this challenge or about any of the tasks? Don't hesitate to contact

Jen Bonnet.

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Subject Guides: Racial Justice Challenge: Welcome

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This week is intended to provide a supportive space to learn, share information, and take action toward racial justice. We are excited to share that there are over 2000 participants from all over the United States (and some international representation), ranging from middle schoolers to retirees!

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Ijeoma Oluo talk

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Ijeoma Oluo: "So You Want to Talk About Race" | Talks at Google

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Library of Congress / Educator Resources Using Primary Sources: Racism

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Library of Congress / Educator Resources Using Primary Sources: Racism

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https://www.loc.gov/search/?in=PartOf%3ATeachers&q=racism

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"We who believe in freedom cannot rest."
-Ella Baker

Thank you so much to all who joined us for the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, created and coordinated by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds. Please share your reflections on social media with the hashtag #KidLit4BlackLives.
The Rally recording is currently available on our YouTube channel.
The Brown Bookshelf remains committed to the ongoing work of amplifying and celebrating Black voices, of rejecting white supremacy, and empowering young readers. It continues to be "our collective mission, therefore, to promote understanding and justice through our art; to bolster every child's visceral belief that his or her life shall always be infinitely valuable." Strive for equity and engage in the work of liberation. Use our site in your home, classroom, and library to find just a small fraction of the incredible number of stories by Black creators from all across the Diaspora. We feature picture book, middle grade, and young adult titles in all genres. Share the many different creator stories, titles, and multimedia resources in our 28 Days Later archives.

As Walter Dean Myers wrote, "There is work to be done." We are sharing the resources listed below, and invite you to do the work, every day, and move toward justice.

The time is now. It is a matter of life and death.
The Conscious Kid The Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
The African American Children's Book Project (read our interview with the founder, Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, here.)
We Need Diverse Books Here Wee Read Fare of the Free Child Podcast 1619 Podcast Race Forward/Colorlines Color of Change
Just Us Books (read our Q&A with founders Cheryl and Wade Hudson here, and watch Just Us' new YouTube series, "Just Us &".)
The National Visionary Leadership Project Black Youth Project 100 Zinn Education Project Teaching for Change Teaching Tolerance National Museum of African American History & Culture Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility Black Children's Books & Authors
Kweli Journal (read our conversation with founder Laura Pegram here.)
Helping Kids Rise Rethinking Schools Clear the Air Disrupt Texts Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations CrazyQuiltEdi Blog The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Black Visions Collective ACLU Of Minnesota Dignity and Power Now

We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be (Heinemann) by Cornelius Minor

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension (Heinemann) by Sara K. Ahmed

Teaching for Black Lives (Rethinking Schools) ed. by Dyan Watson,
Jesse Hagopian and Wayne Au

Libraries, Literacy, and African American Youth (Libraries Unlimited) edited by Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy, Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Casey H. Rawson

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KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives: Anti-Racist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators - The Brown Bookshelf

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"We who believe in freedom cannot rest." -Ella Baker Thank you so much to all who joined us for the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, created and coordinated by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds. Please share your reflections on social media with the hashtag #KidLit4BlackLives.

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Website from Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture (press release)

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. We are here to provide tools and guidance to empower your journey and inspire conversation.

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How can caregivers and educators best guide children to and through picture books with positive racial representations? How can we also support kids in resisting or reading against racist content? These tips draw on the Whole Book Approach (WBA, which I created in association with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art) and other resources to highlight how picture books can provoke meaningful, transformative conversations between children and adults that "embrace race."

1. Draw on expert resources to find and assess diverse books.

In our Talking Race & Kids online conversation, we highlighted We Need Diverse Books and its Our Story App, but suggested many other great resources, too.

2. Conduct a collection/storytime diversity audit.

How many books by/about People of Color and Native/First Nations people do you count? How many are #OwnVoices titles? What goals can you set?

3. Recognize and leverage the difference between reading to children and reading with children.

Storytimes often use performance methods that position children as an audience with adults reading to them. Shifting to instead read with children through co-constructive models like the WBA can support kids' critical engagement with picture book representations of race by affirming that their ideas matter.

4. Ask open-ended questions with embedded art and design vocabulary to engage children's visual literacy.

The WBA uses questions inspired by Visual Thinking Strategies: "What do you see happing in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What else can we find?" It also asks questions about art and design, such as why a book uses a portrait or landscape layout, or how endpapers can provide clues about a story. Ensuing discussions expose how creative processes involve choices, which, by extension, can support kids' understanding that words' and pictures' representations of race are ripe for analysis, too.

5. Intentionally integrate discussion about representations of race into shared reading.

Librarian Jessica Anne Bratt offers these tips, adapted from her google doc, "Talking about Race at Storytime":

It's okay to point out racial differences in picture books: "Is that skin color darker or lighter than yours? How would you describe this skin color? Or yours? Or mine?"

Share your feelings about race and racism when reading together: "It makes me sad that laws allowed certain groups of people like African-Americans to be treated differently."

Use "fair/unfair" when talking about racial stereotypes or exclusion in picture books: "Wow, this picture book only includes White male inventors. That's unfair. Did you know that ____ created things, too? Let's read about some famous ____ inventors."

Embrace cultural and racial differences, and reinforce that "different" and "weird" aren't the same. "Why is her hair weird?" "Her hair is different from yours. Some people have straight, curly, or wavy hair. It's great that we're different."

Respect children's curiosity by responding to their hard questions and sometimes embarrassing observations, or by admitting gaps in your knowledge. "Let me think about that for a while," or "That's a good question" or "I don't know" can be great replies.

6. Use other questions (like these adapted from Lissa Paul) to get kids talking about how words and pictures can reflect, reinforce, or challenge systems of power:

Whose story is this?

Who is the reader?

When and where was the book written? By whom?

Who is named? And who isn't?

Who gets punished? Praised?

Who speaks? Who is silenced?

Who acts? Who is acted upon?

Who looks? Who is observed?

7. Paraphrase and link comments to reinforce ideas and model active listening.

Paraphrasing helps kids feel heard and can let them clarify remarks. Linking ideas fosters collaboration so that many voices make meaning of a text.

8. Welcome diverse responses and interpretations.

In "The Acid Test for Literature Teaching," reader response theorist Louise Rosenblatt writes, "Books don't only happen to readers. Readers also happen to books." It follows that one text can elicit many responses grounded in readers' particular experiences and perspectives.

9. Stretch beyond your readings/interpretations to center children's responses.

Scholar, Aidan Chambers, asserts that using open-ended questions and leading with the phrase, "Tell me..." can foster children's comfort in taking risks in their discussions about books.

10. Be mindful of power dynamics at storytime, starting with the fact that all children exist under adult authority.

How can you empower them? Strive, especially, to hold space for children of marginalized identities addressing exclusion, and for those voicing concern about representation of "mirror" characters.

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10 Tips for Reading Picture Books with Children through a...

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How can caregivers and educators best guide children to and through picture books with positive racial representations? How can we also support kids in resisting or reading against racist content?

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NBC5 did a three-part video on the topic, which is shared via the Josephine Community Library website here.

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Many libraries charge overdue fines because of three main assumptions:

Fines bring back materials faster (and at all)

Fines generate revenue for the library

Fines teach responsibility

Published research and a growing amount of recent evidence show that, actually, none of these assumptions are true-at all!

Overdue fines do, though, have a significant impact on patrons:

Overdue fines disproportionately impact patrons with lower incomes, as transportation and financial burdens disproportionately affect low-income residents

Parents are reluctant to check out books for their children for fear of fines

Patrons with high overdue fines often have their library cards blocked

For these reasons, more and more libraries around the country-and the world-are eliminating fines. Take a look at the impressive map below noting libraries that have gone partially or totally fine free!

If you want to learn more about going fine-free or are actively trying to eliminate fines, here are some resources that may be helpful. You can find research and articles, some recent examples of reports and visuals from libraries that have recently gone fine-free, and a template and example of an infographic that you can customize for your library to use a tool for your governing body, staff, community and other stakeholders to advocate for eliminating fines.

If you have questions about this topic or need additional information, please contact Beth Crist, crist_b@cde.state.co.us.

Infographic Templates.

These two infographic templates can help you get started on collecting data and stories to present to your governing body, public, staff, and other stakeholders, in order to make your case for eliminating overdue fines. Select whichever template best fits with data you've collected, your situation, or simply your preference.
Infographic Examples.

These examples demonstrate a sample of completed infographics, using the above templates.

DePriest, M. (2016). Removing Barriers to Access: Eliminating Fines and Fees on Children's Materials. Colorado State Library. http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/removingbarrierstoaccess.

San Francisco Public Library. (2019). Long Overdue: Eliminating Fines on Overdue Materials to Improve Access to San Francisco Public Library. http://bit.ly/LongOverdueReport.

St. Paul Public Library. (2019). Fine Free. https://sppl.org/fine-free/.

American Library Association. Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity (January 2019). http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/council/council_documents/2019_ms_council_docs/ALA%20CD%2038%20RESOLUTION%20ON%20MONETARY%20LIBRARY%20FINES%20AS%20A%20FORM%20OF%20SOCIAL%20JUSTICE%20Revised%201_27_0.pdf

Woodworth, Andy. (2019). Fine Free Library Map. https://endlibraryfines.info/fine-free-library-map/

Crist, B. (2019). Eliminating Fines FAQs. Colorado Virtual Library. https://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/eliminating-fines-faqs/.

DePriest, M. (2020). The Future Is Fine Free: How Libraries Are Increasing Equity, Engagement and Access for Their Communities. Recorded Online Session. Infopeople. https://vimeo.com/391379477

Bromberg, P. (2019). Fine Free. Salt Lake City Public Library. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pk77n53ujmsi2ec/AADvJVNQnt0hWKZmprErd_9sa?dl=0. (wide variety of resources about going fine free and examples from Salt Lake City Public Library)

It's Not Fine to Fine. (2019). https://www.itsnotfinetofine.com/. (a website dedicated to removing library fines in Australia)

Wacek, Dawn. (2018). A librarian's case against overdue book fines. TEDxUWLaCrosse. https://www.ted.com/talks/dawn_wacek_a_librarian_s_case_against_overdue_book_fines?language=en.

Graham, Ruth. (February 2017). Long Overdue: Why public libraries are finally eliminating the late-return fine.Slate. https://slate.com/culture/2017/02/librarians-are-realizing-that-overdue-fines-undercut-libraries-missions.html.

DePriest, M., and B. Crist. (August 2019). Eliminating Late Fines is a Win-Win for Your Library and Community - Recorded Online Session. Nebraska Library Commission. http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgID=18633 (webinar archive and presentation slides)

Dixon, J. A., and S. A. Gillis. (April 2017). Doing Fine(s)? Fines & Fees. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=doing-fines-fines-fees

Paraschiv, P. (September 2018). The latest trend in libraries: eliminating fines. Princh blog. https://princh.com/the-latest-trend-in-libraries-eliminating-fines-interview-with-beth-crist-and-meg-depriest/#.XW6g6S5KhaQ

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For more information on eliminating fines, check out our Eliminating Fines FAQ!] Many libraries charge overdue fines because of three main assumptions: Fines bring back materials faster (and at all) Fines generate revenue for the library Fines teach responsibility Published research

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Padlet collection curated by Tasha K.

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Article providing a self-assessment guide for school libraries; if they are organized to meet all need equitably.

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Article providing a self-assessment guide for school libraries; if they are organized to meet all need equitably.

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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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Padlet collection curated by  Dr. Nicole A. Cooke

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A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, WNDB aims to create a world where every reader can find themselves in the pages of a book. To reach this goal, we've created programs to mentor diverse writers and illustrators, support diverse publishing professionals, and provide books to classrooms nationwide.

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Educator Guide for YA Version of Stamped

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Educator Guide for YA Version of Stamped

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What Does Your Protest Look Like? Cicely Lewis Webinar

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What Does Your Protest Look Like? Cicely Lewis Webinar

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July 16, 2020: What Does Your Protest Look Like? Protest With the Read Woke Movement

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From the US to the UK, the “Read Woke” movement has sparked conversations about the lack of minority representation in YA literature. Discover how incorporating diverse stories and incentive-based learning during an era of DACA repeal, a Muslim ban, and the Black Lives Matter movement empowered students and created a culture of reading at one school. Cicely Lewis, the 2020 School Librarian of the Year and “The Read Woke Librarian,” will share tools to obtain community support and equip participants to lead change in their schools. Learn creative ways to decolonize your reading list and open up to more diverse texts. Lewis will share ways to protest from where you are and recognize that everyone has a role in the movement. Participants will leave inspired and ready to make a change.

A copy of the presentation can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oD6yqNtw5HIDdDHvm17xGGbl_uPyXk9gxZ269bqGdqg/edit#slide=id.g74be5c6603_0_77

Please email professionallearning@mackin.com for a copy of the Certificate of Attendance upon completing the recording.

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A selection of multicultural and social justice titles for children, YA, and educators

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More than 100 carefully selected lists of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. When you find a book at this site, please purchase it here. Our titles are linked to Bookshop. A portion of your book purchase helps sustain our work. New Releases Activism and Organizing Africa Afro-Latinx American Indians Arabs […]

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For Title l schools: lots of newly published diverse books at a fraction of the cost.

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The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled.

JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

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First Book Marketplace: Affordable Books for Educators

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The First Book Marketplace offers affordable new books and educator resources exclusively to schools and programs serving kids and teens in need.

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Ending Racism: Teaching Difficult Topics

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Ending Racism: Teaching Difficult Topics

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Google Doc collection curated by Margaret Lincoln, PhD

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Ending Racism: Teaching Difficult Topics in 2020

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Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth 

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Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth 

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Free Online PD

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Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth – A free online professional development curriculum

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This site hosts a series of free, online professional development modules for school and public youth services librarians, library administrators, and others interested in improving their knowledge about race and racism, racial equity, and culturally sustaining pedagogy. The primary focus of the Project READY curriculum is on improving relationships with, services to, and resources for youth of color and Native youth.

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Definitions and links for sources about designing culturally responsive teaching

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MESD School Improvement Professional Larning Events

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MESD School Improvement Professional Larning Events

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https://www.multnomahesd.org/pd.html

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Black voices writing for young readers.

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About the Brown Bookshelf - The Brown Bookshelf

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The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Our flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators. You can read more abou…

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A New, Antiracist Canon - Suggested Texts

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Classic essay supporting diversity in collection development. Good reference to use for talking points. 

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Classic essay supporting diversity in collection development. Good reference to use for talking points. 

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Middle Grade & YA Collection Development Resources - SLJ

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Middle Grade & YA Collection Development Resources - SLJ

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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. It is by no means complete, and I'm sure that there are many more that I need to add. But it is a really good starting point.

Anti Racist and Social Justice Reading Lists, A Collection of Resources (in random order)

Chicago Public Library/Ibram X. Kendi (adult books): https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923?page=1

Publisher's Weekly (kids books): https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/83549-a-children-s-and-ya-anti-racist-reading-list.html

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/jun/03/do-the-work-an-anti-racist-reading-list-layla-f-saad

Center for Racial Justice in Education: https://centerracialjustice.org/resources/reading-lists/

Teen Librarian Toolbox (teen books on social justice and activism): http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2020/06/33269/

15 Books about Social Justice and Human Rights: https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/social-justice-picture-books/

We Are Teachers 24 Books That Teach Social Justice for Kids: https://www.weareteachers.com/books-about-social-justice/

40 Picture Books for Young Activists: http://www.allthewonders.com/books/forty-picture-books-for-young-activists/

Scholastic 25 Picture Books to Teach Kindness, Empathy and Justice: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/christy-crawford/2017/Picture-Books-to-Promote-Kindness-Empathy-and-Social-Justice/

We Need Diverse Books has an actual roundup of lists and discussion posts: https://diversebooks.org/resources-for-race-equity-and-inclusion/

Diverse and Own Voices Reading Lists for Youth, by age and format (not comprehensive)
Young Readers
SLJ Diverse Board Books: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=50-Board-Books-That-Show-IBPOC-Faces-diversity-baby

45 Favorite #OwnVoices Diverse Picture Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-ownvoices-picture-books/

Read Brightly Black Boy Joy Picture Books: https://www.readbrightly.com/picture-books-featuring-black-male-protagonists/

Read Brightly Black Girl Magic: https://www.readbrightly.com/picture-books-featuring-black-female-protagonists/

#OwnVoices Picture Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-ownvoices-picture-books/

Own Voices Beginning Chapter Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/ownvoices-beginning-chapter-books/
Middle Grade Readers
#OwnVoices Middle Grade Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-realistic-chapter-books-middle-school-ownvoices/

#OwnVoices Fiction for Grades 2-6: https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/220740577/650702937

Diverse Realistic Chapter Books for Middle School by #Own Voices: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-realistic-chapter-books-middle-school-ownvoices/

Diverse Books for Tweens and Teens by Own Voices Authors: https://www.readbrightly.com/diverse-books-tweens-teens-written-voices-authors/

8 #OwnVoices Middle Grade Books by LatinX Authors: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/8-fabulous-ownvoices-middle-grade-latinx-novels-giveaway/
Teen/YA Readers
Read Black Authors (MG and YA book lists): http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2020/06/because-black-lives-matter-read-black-authors/

45 Black YA Books to Read to Your TBR: https://afomaumesi.com/black-young-adult-novels/

16 YA Books by Black Authors You Can Pre-order Right Now: https://www.epicreads.com/blog/preorder-books-by-black-authors/#.Xt-kJSzjuw8.twitter

YA Black Girl Magic: https://www.epicreads.com/blog/black-girl-magic-books/?fbclid=IwAR0ft7qSt4YeMPtEN_jXWzewOQjdElvQFj0ZXY1_RBJ_Mg2C5fiePvJxrVc

Diverse Meet Cutes and Rom Coms: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=meet-cutes-come-all-colors-YA-diversity-romance-POC&fbclid=IwAR0GmjLvKNt_p16R_12_ohYYmIRDmK1loDKox9pr-YjXzUip2mPQgr3LW68

YA with Black Authors 2020: https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/young-adult-books-by-black-authors-2020?fbclid=IwAR2RiRZdAHwZ-x5dxNan2O5CuYSAL6ieppEg7Sz2aHOhCdxsWpGFPgFJ4ko

General Resources, to follow important conversations, read reviews, and diversify your reading

Lee and Low Books: https://www.leeandlow.com/

We Need Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/

The Brown Bookshelf: https://thebrownbookshelf.com/

Latinx in Kidlit: https://latinosinkidlit.com/

Disability in Kidlit (no longer updated, but a great resource for important discussions and reviews): http://disabilityinkidlit.com/

American Indians in Children's Lit: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

LGBTQ Reads https://lgbtqreads.com/young-adult/

Social Justice Books: https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/new/

Diverse Bookfinder.org: https://diversebookfinder.org/

Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/

Read Woke Librarian: https://cicelythegreat.wordpress.com/

Project LIT: https://thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/day-28-jarred-amato-talks-project-lit/

Crazy Quilt Edi List of Diversity Resources (including book awards): https://crazyquiltedi.blog/diversity-resources/

Again, We Need Diverse Books has a really great list of resources on Where to Find Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/resources/where-to-find-diverse-books/
Blogs that focus on younger readers in general
Brightly: https://www.readbrightly.com/

JBrary: https://jbrary.com/

Celebrate Picture Books: https://celebratepicturebooks.com/

The Picture Book Review: https://thepicturebookreview.com/

Multicultural Children's Book Day: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com

A Mighty Girl: https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11056

Imagination Soup: https://imaginationsoup.net/

A Fuse 8 Production: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/

The Yarn: http://blogs.slj.com/theyarn/
Blogs that focus on Middle Grade readers in general
The Nerdy Book Club: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

Ms. Yingling Reads: http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/

MG Book Village: https://mgbookvillage.org/

Here Wee Read: http://hereweeread.com/

Mr. Schu Reads: http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/

CeCeLibrarian's Book Blog: https://cecelibrarian.com/

Kid Lit Frenzy: http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/

Books in the Middle: https://booksinthemiddle.wordpress.com/
Blogs that focus on YA/Teens in general Publisher Blogs
Epic Reads (Harper): https://www.epicreads.com/

Fierce Reads (MacMilan): https://www.fiercereads.com/

I Read YA (Scholastic): https://www.ireadya.com/

Sourcebooks Fire: https://www.sourcebooks.com/young-adult.html

Get Underlined (Random House): https://www.getunderlined.com/

The Novl (Little, Brown): https://www.thenovl.com/

Riveted (Simon & Schuster): https://rivetedlit.com/
General Blogs
YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/

YA Interrobang: https://yainterrobang.tumblr.com/

Teen Librarian Toolbox: http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/

Rec it Rachel: https://recitrachel.com/

Diversity in YA: http://www.diversityinya.com/

LGBTQ Reads by Dahlia: https://lgbtqreads.com/author/dailydahlia/

Reading While White: http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/

Rich in Color: http://richincolor.com/

Book Riot: https://bookriot.com/
Professional Journals and Sources
School Library Journal: https://www.slj.com/

Booklist: https://www.booklistonline.com/

Kirkus: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/

Publisher's Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/

Edelweiss: https://www.edelweiss.plus/#dashboard

VOYA: http://voyamagazine.com/

Early Word: http://www.earlyword.com/

Children's Bookshelf: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/index.html

Publishing Trends: http://www.publishingtrends.com/
Hasthags to Search and Follow
#OwnVoices

#PictureBooks

#KidLit

#MGLit

#YALit

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

#ActuallyAutistic

#CritLib

#DisruptTexts
Blogs that also talk about books on occasion, mostly YA
Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/

The Mary Sue: https://www.themarysue.com/

Hypable: https://www.hypable.com/

Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/books/top-new-ya-books-2020/

Paste Magazine: https://www.pastemagazine.com/

PopSugar: https://www.popsugar.com/

Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/
Resources for Examining Bias in Books
Teaching Tolerance Examining Stereotypes in Books: https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/examining-stereotypes-in-books

In Time Examining Children's Books for Bias: https://intime.uni.edu/evaluating-childrens-books-bias

Resources from Lee and Low:

Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books from Social Justice Books, A Teaching for Change Project

A Guide to Selecting Multicultural Literature by Dr. Barbara D. Brown, African Studies Center, Boston University

A Checklist for Evaluating Diverse Children's Media from The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

Examining Children's Books for Bias: http://www.racialequityvtnea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Evaluating-Children%E2%80%99s-Books-for-Bias-Criteria-MAY-2018-3.pdf

10 Criteria for Choosing Diverse Texts in Your Classroom from the Writing Mindset

Classroom Libraries as Windows and Mirrors: Ensuring Diverse, Representative Books for Our Students 2018 ILA expert panel (Answer starts at minute 03:05)

Assessing Children's Literature from the Anti-Defamation League

Diverse Classroom Libraries for K-6 Students from Reading Rockets

Lee and Low: https://blog.leeandlow.com/ (many of the above Resources for Examining Bias in Books is from the Lee and Low blog page)

And older list of previous resources

What resources would you add to this list? I'm always looking for new ones. Please leave a comment as I would love to have a more comprehensive list.

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A Great Big List of MG and YA Collection Development Resources

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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.

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Collection development and analysis tool for elementary library collections

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Learning for Justice (Formerly Teaching Tolerance)

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Learning for Justice (Formerly Teaching Tolerance)

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Classroom resources and PD

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Resource Collections from Other Organizations

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Resource Collections from Other Organizations

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Library Administration and Policy Resources

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Library Administration and Policy Resources

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Reading and Collection Development Resources

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Reading and Collection Development Resources