Discovering the Remarkable
  • Welcome
    • Meet Mrs. B!
  • BookHub
    • 40 Book Challenge
    • Book Recommendations
  • Virtual MakerSpace
    • Hour of Code
    • Compassionate Making
  • Resources
    • Research Resources >
      • Notetaking
      • Credible Sources
      • Copyright
    • Virtual Trips
    • How-To Videos
    • Digital Citizenship
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

"Find yourself in a book" - #DiversityMatters

1/31/2018

0 Comments

 
Diverse books has been on my collection radar since I came to RHES, but because of the necessity of curating and budgeting for resources for the new science and social studies Georgia Standards of Excellence as well as a lack of time for an in-depth needs assessment of our diverse books, it was put on the back burner. While I have purchased a few titles here and there, curating diverse books has not been on the top of my to-do list.  Not anymore! With my book fair coming up and the very anticipated monetary funding it will bring, I am excited to start building my to-purchase lists full of diversity.

Why?

Libraries are an important market for featuring diversity. When we include diverse books on our shelves and promote these books to our patrons, we are doing three super important things.

First, we are giving visibility to diverse books and the communities they represent, something that theorists such as Vygotsky agree can positively influence student's self-identity or perceptions of others, especially while they’re young.


Second, as the American Library Association explains, libraries can include substantial collections of material about different cultures, which helps to frame discussions, provides a basis for factually accurate debates, and demonstrates that diverse groups are complex and influential within society.


Lastly, libraries make books accessible to all people, including those who might not normally be able to read, but would benefit from diverse literature.

Where to Start?!

I'm not going to lie. It was daunting going through 14,000 copies in our library, but between my amazing media clerk and me, we were able to make a firm list of books that represent people of different races, nationalities, and a variety of backgrounds.  I can't say I am proud of the list, because although I think the diverse books we do have are of sound quality, there is an overwhelming disparity between the breadth of our collection and the number of diverse books. I added our books to a resource list in Destiny so all of our teachers have access to the list of books.  The books went into a special display in our library to bring attention to books our teachers and students can check out.  Now I am on the mission of building our to-purchase lists.

Here are some resources I have been using to build our lists:

http://www.slj.com/resources/slj-resources-for-diversity-in-kid-and-ya-lit/ 
http://www.slj.com/2017/08/teens-ya/42-diverse-must-have-ya-titles-for-every-library/ 
https://diversebooks.org/
​
What books do you think are essential diverse reads?
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Martha Bongiorno

    MS Librarian | @glma
    President-Elect | #MIEExpert | #MIEtrainer | #FlipgridAmbassador | Google Certified | ‘19 Fulton County LMS of the Year | #GaLibChat

    Visit my previous blog!​

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    my read shelf:
    Martha Bongiorno's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)
    Tweets by @Mrs_Bongi
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Location

Hours

Monday                        8:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday                        8:00am - 4:00pm
Wednesday                  8:00am - 4:00pm
Thursday                       8:00am - 4:00pm
​Friday                            8:00am - 4:00pm

Contact Us!

  • Welcome
    • Meet Mrs. B!
  • BookHub
    • 40 Book Challenge
    • Book Recommendations
  • Virtual MakerSpace
    • Hour of Code
    • Compassionate Making
  • Resources
    • Research Resources >
      • Notetaking
      • Credible Sources
      • Copyright
    • Virtual Trips
    • How-To Videos
    • Digital Citizenship
  • Blog
  • Contact Us