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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

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Link to Padlet created for LGBTQIA+

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story | TED

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Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors

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Collection Diversity Toolkit

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Diversity Audits Key Questions:
If you are considering auditing the diversity of your library collection these slides and videos are a starting point to help you begin. There are many considerations and decisions to be made about the type of data you are looking to collect and how you will use your findings to plan next steps. This quick overview may help you decide if a diversity audit will support your learning and your future book purchases.

Have you ever wondered what a diversity audit is? Here's a quick peak at what this work involves in 30 seconds.

Diversity Audits Part 1

Why should you do a diversity audit? In this two minute clip we'll convince you that this work is important and necessary to keep equity at the forefront of school library collections.

Diversity Audits Part 2

If you are starting a diversity audit we recommend starting with some key questions. You can listen to our guiding questions to help you create your own.

Diversity Audits Part 3

How do I do a diversity audit?
Guiding Questions:

What is important to us here and now?

How are we being responsive to our community?

How are we meeting the needs of learners?

Can we find the information?
Is it readily available, reliable, accurate, and free of interpretation or nuance?

What will we do with the information when we have it?

How will this information inform our practice, purchasing, and advocacy?

How will this data help us to support our students in seeing themselves in our collections?

Steps in the Diversity Audit Process:
Set-Up: Which part of the collection will be audited? Who will conduct the audit? How many items will make up the random sample? What tool will be used for tracking?

Markers: Which markers will be used in this audit? What information is important to you right now? Consider your school/district/country context. How will you deal with problematic portrayals?

Percentages: What percentage of diversity will you aim for? On what will you base these percentages?

Tracking: Work through your list of books, tracking the author and protagonist using the determined markers. Use book summaries, author websites, etc. to audit your items.

Analysis: Examine the data. Are your results close to the percentage of diversity you were aiming for? Where are the gaps? What stands out? What is problematic?

Next Steps: What will you do with the data you have gathered? Share it? Determine new patterns for acquisitions? Extend the audit for the next year? Something else?
After the Audit:

1. Sharing: Share with staff, other teacher-librarians and library professionals, the broader learning community.

2. Purchasing: Increase under-represented voices in the library learning commons collection.

3. Student Voice: Involve students in future resource selection.

4. Weed: Review the CSL Diversity Toolkit resources on equity-informed weeding.

5. Advocacy: Put pressure on publishing companies. We need more diversity in literature and resources.

Read more CSL resources by our contributors Rebeca Rubio and Toni Duval.

Duval, T. (2020). Diversity Audit of a Middle School Library. CSL Journal 4(3). Link to Toni's diversity audit spreadsheet - an exemplar of defining and tracking markers.

More Diversity Audit Resources

Resources about Diversity in Publishing

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Diversity Audits - Canadian School Libraries

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Diversity Audits Key Questions: If you are considering auditing the diversity of your library collection these slides and videos are a starting point to help you begin. There are many considerations and decisions to be made about the type of data you are looking to collect and how you will use your findings to plan next steps.

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February is Black History Month - Canada.ca

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Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present. Canadians learn about the experience of Black Canadians and their vital role in the community.

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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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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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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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By Rebeca Rubio

Libraries need to speak the truth so hard it hurts.
Chief Stacey Laforme (Ontario Library Association Super Conference, Toronto, Jan 2020)

We are in a time of social revolution. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in addition to the Pride, Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements have demanded that we collectively examine our understandings of equity and discrimination. The demands by these movements are necessary, and responses to these demands are long overdue.

Schools, like other institutions, are complicit in systemic discrimination and are part of a system which needs examination. Equally, school Library Learning Commons (LLC) are structures within this system. They can be fierce allies who commit to equity and inclusion in their practice, collections and programming. So, as teacher-librarians, it is time for us to ask ourselves some hard questions: Which aspects of our practice have we failed to examine lately? Which voices, histories, stories and perspectives have we amplified in our collections and which ones have been silenced or excluded?

One way to actively answer these questions is to launch an LLC diversity audit. LLCs have a duty to ensure that all patrons have access to high-interest, high-quality books that are representative of their lives and the lives of those who make up their communities. A diversity audit is a thorough review or inventory of items in the LLC, with the goal of determining exactly how diverse the collection is.

A diversity audit can be summarized as consisting of four key steps: taking a random sampling of the collection, tracking it against diversity markers, generating data and then using the data to inform future acquisitions and directions. However, it is much more complex than these simple steps. It is a rich journey of professional development that addresses our implied biases. It also tackles a critical question: to what extent is the LLC collection representative of the school, the community and even the world?

Secondary teacher-librarians in School District38 Richmond, BC are currently immersed in a diversity audit. Our journey began in September as we unpacked concepts of identity, positionality, privilege, racism, systemic discrimination, diversity, equity and intersectionality.

Considering our desire to expose underrepresented voices, we set out to establish categories of self-identification, also called "diversity markers". In setting those, we grappled with big ideas: How do we define race? What is decolonization? What is gender? What are our understandings of sexual orientation and gender identity? How do we define "ability" and "disability", "visible" or "invisible"? How do we decide which groups are underrepresented or marginalized?

We settled on markers of race, gender, ability, and sexual orientation and gender identity. We also included Muslim voices, as a response to increasing Islamophobia in Canada. Finally, we included "Own Voices" as a marker, in a deliberate attempt to honour authors authentically writing about their own experience, as opposed to having others appropriate their voice. We then pulled a random sampling of our Young Adult (YA) fiction and started tracking it against these selected markers.

Our next step will be to analyze our data and then use it to inform our practice and update our collections. Whose voices, histories, worldviews and perspectives have we neglected? The diversity audit will be followed by advocacy, applying pressure on publishing companies to invest more in diverse literature. We will continue to amplify the voices that have not had equitable space on our shelves, in our buildings or in our classroom conversations.

Rabia Khokhar, a teacher-librarian from Ontario, noted, "Equity is not something we do every once in a while, but rather the lens through which we intentionally plan and carry out our vision for the school library."

Equity is something we can champion all the time: refusing silence, committing to learning and unlearning, and understanding that this important work begins with an examination of the self. An LLC diversity audit is important work; it is equity in action.

For more information on LLC diversity audits, listen to the BCTLA webinar from January 14, 2021. Find it at https://youtu.be/Td8pApG_HCk

This article was first published in the British Columbia Teachers' Federation Teacher Magazine in January 2021.

Rebeca Rubio is the Coordinator for Libraries and Information Services in SD38 Richmond, where she supports teacher-librarians in developing programs, managing spaces and developing learning commons spaces. She supports teachers and schools with resource acquisition, database navigation, digital literacy and other literacy initiatives. She also manages and maintains the District Resource Centre, acquiring and circulating valuable resources for all SD38 educators.

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Diversity Audits in Library Learning Commons: Equity in Action

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By Rebeca Rubio Libraries need to speak the truth so hard it hurts. Chief Stacey Laforme (Ontario Library Association Super Conference, Toronto, Jan 2020) We are in a time of social revolution. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in addition to the Pride, Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements have demanded that we collectively examine our understandings of equity and discrimination.

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Wood, C. (2021). Counting the Collection. Library Journal, 146(5), 26–29.

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Link to the MSLA journal with the original article.

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By Toni Duval
The idea for this project started in February 2020 after hearing Deborah Dundas speak at the Canadian School Libraries Treasure Mountain Conference in Toronto, Ontario. Her article "Who do we see in kids' books? Star survey puts numbers to the state of diversity" based on books published in 2018 made me wonder about the diversity of the books in my middle school library collection.

My original plan was to involve students in the data collection of my middle school library while taking my Teacher Librarian Specialist Additional Qualification (AQ) through the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO). The outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 caused the closing of Peel District School Board (PDSB) schools. I put my course on hold to give my full attention to staff and students during Distance Learning. In June 2020 I collected data from students about books they would like to see in our collection, in anticipation of this project. In July 2020 I started the data collection on my own as a part of my inquiry project for the Teacher Librarian Specialist AQ.
Goals

learn about the diversity of a middle school fiction library collection

create a tool to audit my library collection that could be used as a resource in the future by other Teacher Librarians

include student voice in future selections

focus on diversity of authors or illustrators and main characters using specific criteria including racialized, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and disabled voices

use the data I collect to inform my purchasing decisions moving forward and perhaps provide data to publishers to push them to include more diversity in the authors they publish (data could also be used to secure extra funding to add to the collection)

View Toni's Diversity Audit Presentation
(Created with Canva)

Diversity Audit - widespread sharing by Toni Duval - Beatty Fleming Sr PS (1503)

Toni Duval is a teacher with the Peel District School Board in Brampton, Ontario. She is a passionate advocate of the importance of school libraries and providing children with diverse Canadian literature. She is a FOLD Kids Planning Team Member and encourages everyone to check out thefoldcanada.org.

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Diversity Audit of a Middle School Library

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By Toni Duval The idea for this project started in February 2020 after hearing Deborah Dundas speak at the Canadian School Libraries Treasure Mountain Conference in Toronto, Ontario. Her article "Who do we see in kids' books?

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Diversity Considerations in YA Doing a Diversity Audit - Diversity-Audit-Outline-2017-with-Sources

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Source photo courtesy of American Embassy School, New Delhi

All across the globe, book spines carry the same call numbers. Religion? It starts in the 200s. Social sciences? Head over to the 300s. History and geography? Those books are marked in the 900s.

But a growing number of school and youth librarians are moving to dismantle the Dewey Decimal Classification system-the worldwide cataloging and organizational system for libraries devised by pioneer Melvil Dewey in 1873 and first published in 1876. Not only is the Dewey Decimal System outdated, they say, but many of Dewey's approaches to categorizing books were racist and sexist. For instance, Black history is not part of American history; "women's work" is a separate category from jobs; non-Christian religious holidays are situated with mythology and religion; and LGBTQ+ works were once shelved under "perversion" or "neurological disorders" before landing in the "sexual orientation" category.

"After we had done the major renovation of the collection at the library in Doha [Qatar], there was a librarian at the Library of Congress who came to give a workshop. I was cringing that I was going to offend her in some way [for changing Dewey], and she goes, 'He was a misogynist anyway, good for you,'" says Linda Hoiseth, a Minnesota teacher librarian who works at American international schools abroad. "All those extra decimals were created for someone who was nonwhite male...someone who was considered an other."

Dewey's #TimesUp moment has been a long time in the making.

In 2019, the American Library Association (ALA) voted unanimously to strip Dewey's name from its top honor, citing a history of racism, anti-Semitism, and sexual harassment. "Whereas Melvil Dewey did not permit Jewish people, African Americans, or other minorities admittance to the resort owned by Dewey and his wife," reads the resolution approved by ALA.

"Whereas the behavior demonstrated for decades by Dewey does not represent the stated fundamental values of ALA in equity, diversity, and inclusion," the statement continues after listing several other Dewey offenses.

The move came more than a century after Dewey had been ostracized by ALA, the organization he helped found, for sexually harassing four female members.

The Traditional Tales collection at the
American Embassy School, New Delhi.

Photo courtesy of American Embassy School, New Delhi

The push to slowly shift away from some of Dewey's overtly biased categorizations comes amid a greater effort to decolonize-or build racially equitable-libraries in general. Simply put, it's an attempt to be more inclusive of voices of color, to highlight diverse perspectives, and to decenter whiteness, wrote Nicole A. Cooke, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina, in an op-ed in Publishers Weekly last year. It's not easy and it can't be done all at once, librarians say. Rather, it's a thoughtful, continuous process.

And as with decolonization, many school librarians are dismantling Dewey one section at a time with a threefold goal: Eliminate the bias, create more inclusion, and make cataloging more accessible to students to help increase circulation.

"We are trying to make it more intuitive for students so they can browse better and they can find relatable things they might not have found otherwise," says Hoiseth. "My personal motto is: If I can't put a label on a shelf that will tell the students what's on that shelf, then it's not organized very well."

So where to start?

Challenging the status quo

Over a decade ago, Jess deCourcy Hinds, a library director at Bard High School Early College Queens in New York, made some small tweaks, such as alphabetizing plays and poetry, just like works of fiction.

"I was a Dewey rebel from the beginning, but in a very restrained way," she says, laughing. "People have described the Dewey Decimal System as a house of cards, where if you pull out a few cards here and there, a few cards will topple over. I didn't want to make changes hastily."

More recently, Hinds knew it was time for the Dewey system to undergo more scrutiny. However, she wanted to take the lead from her students who were inclined to tackle some of the more obvious injustices.

While doing research with three student library interns, Hinds learned that years ago, Howard University librarian Dorothy Porter flagged that all books by Black authors-no matter what topic-were in 325 (for international migration and colonization). And it seemed that the mainstream hadn't really corrected that since then.

"It's hard to erase the history of these structures," Hinds says.

Still, her students set about to reclassify the books that dealt with Black history.

"I wanted to take a closer look at why immigrants and African American history were separated from American history, and that was when we [Hinds and her students] got angry," she says.

For example, Hinds and her students questioned why speeches by President Obama landed in two different sections (civil rights/social science or American history). Ultimately, she decided to group all his works under American history.

Not all books by Black authors were moved, though. Cornel West, for example, remained in the 300s because his books examine race-a seamless integration in the social science category.

Hinds and the student interns, who were asked to present their project at the Association of College & Research Librarians conference at Baruch College in 2018, took a similar approach with other underrepresented groups. They created their own numbers in the 973 section by ethnicity.

"Students didn't want people of color to be pigeonholed. They wanted them to be in American history. But they still wanted the history of Asian Americans to be in its own cohesive [spot]," she says.

In some areas, though, she abandoned the numerical classification and used call letters instead.

"I had students who wanted to create an LGBTQ section, and so we just used the call number LGBTQ; and then FIC or NONFIC or GN for graphic novel, and so we put that section up in the front as well with other creative works," says Hinds.

When creating a bilingual language section, she decided to group those books near Spanish, Chinese, and Russian books. She added a shelf with BIL-SPN for bilingual Spanish, BIL-CHI for bilingual Chinese, and BIL-Rus for Russian.

"I'm steering people towards thinking about things in a way that values our community," she says. "Creating a library with social justice [objectives] isn't just the labeling, but it's the display and the promotion."

Molly Schwartz, then with the Metropolitan New York Library Council, interviewed students from Bard HSEC Queens. The show later aired on NPR. Photo courtesy of Jess deCourcy Hinds

Making an inclusive space

The treatment of religious holidays just did not sit right with Leslie Howard, a librarian at Fairhill Elementary School in Fairfax, VA. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter were in the typical holiday section with a 390 distinction. But books about Eid, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, and other non-Christian holidays were in mythology and religion under the 290s. Howard says she realized "how wrong this was" after giving it some serious thought. Her district had already been discussing issues around equity and access and building relationships with students and their communities, and this restructuring was an extension of that.

Howard's school has a diverse population, and she wants every student in the building who celebrates a religious holiday to find books about all of them in the same place. The pandemic gave her the flexibility to devote time to the project this year, since the district allowed her to tackle tasks not related to student achievement. She created a special collection and pulled all the books from their Dewey categorization and made one holiday shelf for them.

"It just makes good common sense to me," Howard says. "If you want your library to be representative of your student population, this is a very simple solution."

Next, Howard is hoping to tackle that "women's work" distinction.

"Cookbooks and babysitting, why is that separate from careers and jobs? It's odd," she says. "I respect what [Dewey] attempted to do all those years ago and his frame of mind. He created this system before we had space exploration, but we found ways to make that fit in. I'm sure there are ways to adapt and adjust, make it fit our world."

No one-size-fits-all approach

Hoiseth spent about two years, on and off, reclassifying sections in the library at the American Embassy School of New Delhi. She took on a similar project when she worked at the American School of Doha. And now, as she heads to the American School of Dubai, she expects ditching parts of Dewey to occur organically.

"It really becomes collection specific. The way I reorganized in Doha was different than the way I reorganized in Delhi because of the units that my students studied and because of what had already been collected," she says. "The decolonizing part is just a bonus."

For instance, Hoiseth says she was frustrated that British and African poets were in different places and that men and women had different decimals. Since the majority of poetry was classified under 811, she moved it all there. When it came to decolonizing the history section, she took the chronological approach to the 900s. That's how students were looking for research materials anyway, she says.

"We left the biggest collections where they were. So, the World War II collections stayed in place, and then we arranged the others to work around it," she explains. "I'm not above making up numbers. We just made up numbers to make them fit on the shelf where we wanted them to fit."

Creating an inclusive environment was also important to her. Since a large portion of her students in New Delhi were Indian American or of East Asian descent, she created an entire room devoted to Indian nonfiction and fiction.

"We named [the room] after an Indian poet, and we decorated it, and we really wanted to highlight the collection," says Hoiseth. "When I got there, [the Indian collection] was kind of shoved in a corner and ignored."

"It's really about accessibility," Hoiseth adds. "It's not about following a system."

Getting books into students' hands

When Denise von Minden, a teacher librarian at Flagstaff Academy, a K-8 charter school in Longmont, CO, was tasked with genrefying her library five years ago, she decided to break it into three sections. There was a nonfiction section with 20 genres; fiction with early reading and middle grade chapter books; and the picture book section. And for each of those sections, she created subheadings.

"My focus was very much more on getting the books into the students' hands. Making it as much of an easy shopping experience for them versus anything else," says von Minden. "These kids have grown up with the bookstore model, being able to walk into any store and grab exactly what they want. Having to work too hard for it using Dewey wasn't going to work."

Over the years, she's continued to tweak the system. The way she classifies books must be fluid and ever changing. For example, she realized that 20 nonfiction genres were too many. Some genre names just weren't drawing students in.

"Our kids are changing all the time," she says. "What we know about our kids and what we know about books that are coming out. It changes constantly."

And while von Minden believes the system helped eliminate some of Dewey's inherent biases, she recognizes there's more work to be done on her end. On one hand, she wants students to find books that interest them more easily. But by placing groups of picture books featuring Black history stories together, was she "othering"?

She's also challenging herself when it comes to the integration of more queer lit into the collection. She wants to make sure she's thoughtfully cataloguing the books, not just lumping them together because it's convenient.

"All of those debates happen constantly within the library and my own brain," says von Minden. "Especially [since I am] a white librarian and in a fairly white school. It's easy for me to sit on what we have and let it go, but I have to be better than that-and I have to stay on top of what the thinking is, and the learning is, and do better for my kiddos."
Christina Joseph is an editor, writer, content strategist, and adjunct professor with expertise in race relations, immigration, education, health care, and government.

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Move Over, Melvil! Momentum Grows to Eliminate Bias and Racism in the 145-year-old Dewey Decimal System

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Source photo courtesy of American Embassy School, New Delhi All across the globe, book spines carry the same call numbers. Religion? It starts in the 200s. Social sciences? Head over to the 300s. History and geography? Those books are marked in the 900s.

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TOOLS FOR EMPOWERING YOUNG CHILDREN Louise Derman-Sparks and the A.B.C. Task Force - a good link for educators and students learning about stereotypes and literature. TOOLS FOR EMPOWERING YOUNG CHILDREN Louise Derman-Sparks and the A.B.C. Task Force - a good link for educators and students learning about stereotypes and literature. Show less

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Children's Literature with Negative Portrayals and Stereotypes for Curriculum - San Francisco Public Library

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Children's Literature with Negative Portrayals and Stereotypes for Curriculum by SFPL_ELM_Collection - a community-created list : An SFPL list featuring negative stereotypes and portrayals in Children's Literature, which has become more inclusive and diverse - but unfortunately, not historically.

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Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for us to learn more about the many achievements and contributions of Canadians of Asian heritage who, throughout our history, have done so much to make Canada the country we know and love.

The theme for Asian Heritage Month 2022 is, "Continuing a legacy of greatness". This month is a reminder for all Canadians to come together to combat anti-Asian racism and discrimination in all its forms.

Visit our digital toolkit page

Watch videos about Asian heritage

Asian Heritage Month by the numbers

Obtain data related to Asian communities in Canada and anti-Asian racism.

Topics

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Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for us to learn more about the many achievements and contributions of Canadians of Asian heritage who, throughout our history, have done so much to make Canada the country we know and love. The theme for Asian Heritage Month 2022 is, "Continuing a legacy of greatness".

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3rd Session, 42nd Legislature

Bill 233

THE FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH ACT

(Assented to )

WHEREASFilipinos have chosen Manitoba to call home since the 1950s and have established their roots in the province, reaching every corner from urban centres to rural areas;

AND WHEREAS the Filipino community has become an integral part of Manitoba's social, economic, political and cultural fabric;

AND WHEREAS the Filipino language has become one of the most commonly spoken languages in Manitoba;

AND WHEREAS the Filipino community has contributed tremendously to the growth, prosperity and development of Manitoba and will continue to do so;

AND WHEREAS the appreciation of the vibrant Filipino heritage and culture and the success and strength of the community is traditionally celebrated during the month of June in Manitoba because June 12 is Philippine Independence Day;

THEREFORE HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

Filipino Heritage Month

The month of June in each year is to be known throughout Manitoba as Filipino Heritage Month.

C.C.S.M. reference

This Act may be referred to as chapter F52.8 of the Continuing Consolidation of the Statutes of Manitoba.

Coming into force

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

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3rd Session, 42nd Legislature Bill 233 THE FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH ACT (Assented to ) WHEREASFilipinos have chosen Manitoba to call home since the 1950s and have established their roots in the province, reaching every corner from urban centres to rural areas; AND WHEREAS the Filipino community has become an integral

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By the numbers: Asian History Month 2022 (PDF, 8.72 MB)

Description - Infosheet - Asian Heritage Month 2022

May is Asian Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and learn about the stories of people of Asian heritage in Canada.

Canadians of Asian descent

In the 2016 Census, 6,095,235 people in Canada reported having Asian origins, representing 17.7% of Canada's population.

Chinese: 1,769,195

Iranian: 210,405

Lebanese: 219,555

Pakistani: 215,555

Sri Lankan: 152,595

Filipino: 837,130

Indonesian: 21,390

Japanese: 121,485

Korean: 198,210

Vietnamese: 240,615

East Indian: 1,374,710

Source: Statistics Canada. 2017. Canada [Country] and Canada [Country] (table). Census Profile, 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released November 29, 2017.

Mother tongue

Some of the mother tongues Canadians reported speaking in the 2016 Census:

Arabic: 419,890

Hindi: 110,640

Vietnamese: 156,425

Punjabi (Panjabi): 501,680

Persian (Farsi): 214,200

Japanese: 43,640

Korean: 153,425

Cantonese: 565,270

Mandarin: 592,040

Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino): 431,380

Source: Statistics Canada. 2017. Canada [Country] and Canada [Country] (table). Census Profile, 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released November 29, 2017.

Looking for more data?

Stay tuned for the 2021 Census release on linguistic diversity in Canada on August 17, 2022, and the release on the ethnocultural and religious composition of Canada's population on October 26, 2022.

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Infosheet - By the numbers: Asian Heritage Month 2022

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Description - Infosheet - Asian Heritage Month 2022 Asian Heritage Month May is Asian Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and learn about the stories of people of Asian heritage in Canada. Canadians of Asian descent In the 2016 Census, 6,095,235 people in......

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Neurodiversity Celebration Week aims to bring about worldwide neurodiversity acceptance, equality and inclusion in schools and workplaces.

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Creating awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools. Get Started Here Creating awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools. Get Started Here About Us Established in 2013, The Orange Shirt Society (Society) is a non-profit

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COVID-19: Update on commemorations

Due to the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis, the Government of Canada invites Canadians to commemorate this year's National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day from home. Keep yourself, your family and your community safe by following instructions from health officials and other trusted, reliable sources.

In June, we commemorate National Indigenous History Month 2021 to recognize the history, heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.

Indigenous History-Makers

Learn about inspiring Indigenous peoples who have helped shape Canadian history.

National Indigenous Peoples Day

On June 21, commemorate the heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Métis!

Topics

Learn more about the rich and diverse cultures, voices, experiences and histories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people through these interactive resources.

Free promotional and educational materials for children and adults.

Learn about National Indigenous History Month.

Learn about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous contributions to the War of 1812, reconciliation and more.

Find out about Canada's commitment to implement this declaration.

Learn how the Government of Canada is responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.

Help identify First Nation, Inuit and Métis and Inuit individuals, enrich Canada's historical records and connect community members with their past.

Featured video

Join in the conversation

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Due to the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis, the Government of Canada invites Canadians to commemorate this year's National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day from home. Keep yourself, your family and your community safe by following instructions from health officials and other trusted, reliable sources.

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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.

Before we dive in, I want to make sure a few things are clear. First, I'm only going to discuss labeling for race/ethnicity, not LGBTQIAP+. While the issue is similar for both, there are a few key differences significant enough to merit a separate conversation. Second, intent versus impact. We often like to say "assume good intentions," but that does not, should not, and cannot negate or undo the offense. Good intentions that cause harm still require an apology and action plan of how to do better in the future. Third, you are allowed to be uncomfortable. If you find yourself feeling uncomfortable by the end of this, sit with it. Feel it. Consider the roots of your discomfort. Understand that your comfort level does not merit tone policing or demands for civility, insisting on good intentions or bothsidesism, or anything else that forces the oppressed to accommodate the needs of the oppressor over their own. My goal is not to assuage discomfort but to engage in a difficult conversation.

Now, let's begin.

The two most common reasons I hear from library staff who use "multicultural," "diverse," or "POC" labels are that 1) their patrons want to more easily find those books; and 2) that libraries already use genre labels and diversity is no different. Whew, there's a lot to unpack here!

Although people often use "multicultural," "diverse," and "POC" as if they were synonyms, they aren't. "Diverse" or "diversity" can relate to almost anything: gender, sexual identity, romantic identity, religious beliefs (or lack thereof), citizenship, place of birth, political affiliation, ability, age, etc. "Multicultural" is exactly what it says on the tin: different cultural groups sharing a space. Neither are inherently about race, though both are frequently used to imply that race is a factor. "POC" stands for "people of color." I prefer to use the term BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Person of Color). Indigenous people are not people of color; furthermore, "POC" is often used as a way to avoid saying "Black" and because of that many Black people (including me) prefer being called Black instead of POC.

If you plan to use labels with the words "multicultural," "diverse," or "POC" on them, are you using those terms correctly? How narrowly will you define multicultural? Will you include books by white authors and/or about white characters? If not, why not? Whiteness is a racial affinity and cultural identity. Before you even get to the labeling stage, how will you determine whether or not a book is "multicultural," "diverse," or "POC?" Who will do the physical labor of creating the relevant criteria? Who will evaluate, pull, label, reshelve, and update the catalogue?

But wait - there's more! Are you labeling based on the author, the main character, or both? What if the book has a large cast but not all are BIPOC? Would you add a label to books about BIPOC by white authors like The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow or Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire? What about racially problematic books like American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins or The Help by Kathryn Stockett? Would you label books written by BIPOC that feature main characters that aren't BIPOC like The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu?

It's great that your patrons are seeking out books by and about BIPOC! And yes, many libraries choose to separate out mysteries, science fiction/fantasy, westerns, and "regular" fiction. But identity is not the same thing as genre. To reduce my life as a queer (asexual and aromantic) biracial Black cis woman down to a genre is tokenism and othering at best, offensive and regressive at worst. Tokenism and othering are damaging microaggressions with long lasting ramifications. Labeling books by or about BIPOC is to declare them different because of who they are and that they are only interesting because of how they contrast with whiteness. Labeling does not celebrate diversity but instead centers whiteness as the norm and relegates BIPOC-ness to the abnormal, thereby reinforcing white supremacy.

There are many practical ways to highlight BIPOC authors and works, especially #OwnVoices, without resorting to stickers on spines, such as handselling, readers advisory, programs, end-caps, shelf-talkers, staff picks, booktalks, book clubs, giveaways, and social media. Create book lists that are easily accessible to your patrons on your library blog, website, or OPAC, in patron-accessible binders, on display in the collection area, or on social media. Always feature a wide array of identities while ensuring that representation isn't only occurring during a heritage month (i.e. Indigenous authors only being displayed during Native American Heritage Month). Crucially, make sure those books and authors avoid stereotyping the group they're meant to represent -and that the author themself is not problematic.

You may also need to rethink how you use your OPAC and/or ILS. Replace outdated and derogatory subject headings and DDC numbers, incorporate the use of tags, and add in links to staff-created book lists. If your collection does not have enough books to represent multiple races/ethnicities, sexual/romantic identities, abilities, body types, etc. then it may be time to reevaluate your collection maintenance and ordering processes.

We want our patrons to read books that provide windows, mirrors, sliding glass doors, and prisms, but we first must set up a system where diversity, equity, and inclusion are the default rather than the exception. I firmly believe that neither library staff nor libraries are neutral. We make choices, and those choices reflect, reject, or reaffirm our biases and dead spots. Labels, even when used with good intentions, tokenize the BIPOC reader and author by presuming whiteness as the norm. We cannot claim to be working toward diversity, equitability, and inclusion while othering books based on race.

About the author: Alexandria Brown is a librarian, local historian, writer, and author. They have a BA with honors in Anthropology and Sociology, a Master's of Library and Information Science, and a Master's in US History. They write about speculative fiction and young adult literature for Tor.com, Locus Magazine, as well as on their blog. Find them on Twitter at @QueenofRats.

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How Labeling Books as "Diverse" Reinforces White Supremacy

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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.

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Search interface to OCLC FAST Subject Authorities

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Reflecting Diversity in the Library of Congress Subject Headings

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21st century libraries serve a diverse clientele. The Library of Congress Subject Headings, however, do not reflect this diversity. Too often, subject headings fail to describe library users in the way they describe themselves, making the library look out of touch at best, and offensive at worst.

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A collection of resources and book lists that highlight the neurodiverse, neurodivergent, and people with disabilities communities. This compilation provides educational materials and books for kids of all ages and caregivers to promote respect and understanding. It includes information on topics such as ADHD, autism, and people who have hearing, visual, and other physical/mental disabilities. Along with definitions of these key terms, the resources promote a positive learning environment for those who want to know more and strive to make accommodations for all.

Definition

Neurodiversity: refers to variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions in a non-pathological sense. (Wikipedia)

Disability: any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or effectively interact with the world around them (socially or materially). These conditions, or impairments, may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors (Wikipedia)

Neurodivergent: differing in mental or neurological function from what is considered typical or normal (frequently used with reference to autistic spectrum disorders); not neurotypical. (Google / Oxford Languages)

Neurotypical: not displaying or characterized by autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behavior. (Google / Oxford Languages)

Educational Resources

Book Lists: Children's, Middle Grade, and Young Adult

Discover books that celebrate neurodiversity and disability in all forms. And more socially inclusive booklists and resources will be coming throughout the year!

PUBLISHERS: if you wish to share your neurodiversity and disability or other socially inclusive books and resources, please email Sommer at sommer.wissner@cbcbooks.org.

More

Anti-Racist Resources

Hispanic Heritage Resources

Strong Women & Real Change

Indigenous Peoples Books & Resources

LGBTQIA+ Book Lists and Resources

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A collection of resources and book lists that highlight the neurodiverse, neurodivergent, and people with disabilities communities. This compilation provides educational materials and books for kids of all ages and caregivers to promote respect and understanding. It includes information on topics such as ADHD, autism, and people who have hearing, visual, and other physical/mental disabilities.

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The Most Frequently Banned Authors

The most banned authors include winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Booker Prize, the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Medal, the Eisner Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the NAACP Image Award, the GLAAD Award for Media Representation, the Stonewall Award, and more.

Hopkins, Ellen - 14 titles - 43 bans - 20 districts

Kobabe, Maia - 1 title - 41 bans - 41 districts

Morrison, Toni - 3 titles - 34 bans - 25 districts

Johnson, George M. - 2 titles - 30 bans - 29 districts

Myracle, Lauren - 11 titles - 30 bans - 16 districts

Pérez, Ashley Hope - 1 title - 23 bans - 23 districts

Thomas, Angie - 2 titles - 19 bans - 17 districts

Silvera, Adam - 9 titles - 18 bans - 13 districts

Reynolds, Jason - 6 titles - 18 bans - 11 districts

Maas, Sarah J. - 8 titles - 18 bans - 10 districts

Levithan, David - 15 titles - 17 bans - 18 districts

Alexie, Sherman - 2 titles - 17 bans - 17 districts

Evison, Jonathan - 1 title - 17 bans - 17 districts

Andrews, Jesse - 2 titles - 17 bans - 16 districts

Faruqi, Saadia - 17 titles - 17 bans - 2 districts

Jules, Jacqueline - 17 titles - 17 bans - 2 districts

Do, Anh - 17 titles - 17 bans - 1 district

Green, John - 3 titles - 16 bans - 15 districts

Atwood, Margaret - 3 titles - 15 bans - 11 districts

Hutchinson, Shaun David - 6 titles - 15 bans - 7 districts

Albertalli, Becky - 7 titles - 14 bans - 11 districts

Miedoso, Andrés - 14 titles - 14 bans - 1 district

Gino, Alex - 2 titles - 13 bans - 11 districts

Woodson, Jacqueline - 11 titles - 13 bans - 6 districts

Asher, Jay - 1 title - 12 bans - 12 districts

Hosseini, Khaled - 1 title - 12 bans - 12 districts

Dawson, Juno - 2 titles - 12 bans - 11 districts

Tamaki, Mariko - 2 titles - 12 bans - 11 districts

Picoult, Jodi - 3 titles - 12 bans - 10 districts

Glines, Abbi - 9 titles - 12 bans - 5 districts

Peters, Julie Anne - 8 titles - 12 bans - 4 districts

Cast, Kristen - 12 titles - 12 bans - 1 district

Cast, P. C. - 12 titles - 12 bans - 1 district

Kuklin, Susan - 1 title - 11 bans - 11 districts

Telgemeier, Raina - 1 title - 11 bans - 11 districts

Jennings, Jazz - 2 titles - 11 bans - 10 districts

Stone, Nic - 3 titles - 11 bans - 10 districts

Lockhart, E. - 3 titles - 11 bans - 8 districts

Brown, Monica - 10 titles - 11 bans - 2 districts

Kendi, Ibram X. - 7 titles - 10 bans - 12 districts

Anderson, Laurie Halse - 3 titles - 10 bans - 10 districts

Curato, Mike - 1 title - 10 bans - 10 districts

Rosen, L. C. - 1 title - 10 bans - 10 districts

Clare, Cassandra - 5 titles - 10 bans - 8 districts

Arnold, Elana K. - 7 titles - 10 bans - 5 districts

Konigsberg, Bill - 5 titles - 10 bans - 5 districts

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Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Ban Books - PEN America

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PEN America's report on school book bans offers the most comprehensive look at banned books in the 2021-22 school year, with counting more than 2,500 bans.