[CALIBK12] building a diverse collection

[ladewig]

Lisa, 

I'm not sure what grade levels your school ranges in, but at my elementary K
- 6 site I have gone in multiple directions to try to address this need. 

 

One, I beefed up my folk and fairy tale section - doubling my shelving in
that area, and included collections of books reflecting our students'
heritages. Some of the books are collections of stories, Like "Favorite
Filipino Children's Stories" or others (there are lots of good, new ones out
there) of Hispanic, Vietnamese, Korean, etc. stories. 

 

Two, I updated our country books (geography section) with a strong emphasis
on books about Mexico and Asian countries, and a few of the eastern European
countries (former Soviet "Satellite" countries). 

 

Three, I added drawing books that featured the countries where our
children's parents have emigrated from. 

 

Four, I bought picture dictionaries in Spanish and several Asian languages,
and bi-lingual picture and story books. 

 

Five, I bought several new holiday books for Three King's Day & Day of the
Dead (Mexico) as well as some new Asian celebration books, and a book of
children's celebrations around the world. 

 

Six, I also got a few new books for my 200 shelf - again, I bought several
books that had multiple religions discussed for good comparison reading, as
well as some updated singular volumes, also some books specifically for
crafts, food etc. for religious holidays. 

 

Seven, I bought some new gardening and cooking books with ethnic families
and recipes featured. 

 

Eight, I added additional books to the 900 (exploration, etc.) that included
the Middle East, and the biography section - added some new Asian Americans
and historical Asian figures.

 

Nine, I look for reviews on the best picture books and chapter books
featuring: 1. Multiple races/ethnicities/mixed-race children featured on the
cover or in illustrations in the text. These may be generic stories (regular
stories - not dealing with immigration or prejudice) but it is important for
children to see reflections of their racial/ethnic identity in/on books and
magazines. 2. Immigrant stories - current and past times - I use several of
these in my story time activities. 3. Stories of children in other
countries, either contemporary or as historical fiction. Also the "journals"
or "diaries" of immigrant Americans (Scholastic has a pretty good series) 4.
Stories that particularly reflect the students' ethnic/national background.
I have found one (picture book) about the Indian custom of using henna to
dye hands for weddings, also just got a new one about a girl wanting to try
on her mamma's saris. I make these books "more visible" in my library by
displaying them at the top of the bookshelves so covers can be seen, or
(picture books) on low tables for primary children to see and select. 5.
Books by authors that feature immigrant or "adjusting" ethnic-heritage
children by American authors of minority ancestry like Lawrence Yep, etc.

 

Amazing Grace and (new) Princess Grace are both picture books that feature a
black main character but also have other ethnic heritage children pictured. 

 

 I also make a point of reading them so I can do on-the-spot book talks and
recommend them. One girl just would not stop reading (and rereading!) "The
Color of My Words" by Lynn Joseph after I recommended it to her. "The Silk
Umbrellas" is also a very good - about ethnic farm families and what happens
as their farm/jungle lands grow smaller (through inherited division or
selling off) and they scramble for jobs assembling small electronics, etc.

 

A lot of children's magazines are now much better at including many
ethnicities/races/cultures in their content.

 

I would also like to share an observation. (FYI - My school is majority
Hispanic and Asian, with white and black children as "minority" status, and
most of our "black" children are mixed race/ethnicity.) Despite the fact
that I do strive to include many selections featuring non-Caucasian
children, I notice that Asian students don't necessarily gravitate to books
featuring Asians (etc.). That's okay - a lot of children at my site are
still transitioning, and reading stories of "already-here Americans"
probably helps give them a sense of American culture that they may not have
access to in their homes. Still, all the children SEE their and other
races/ethnicities/cultures reflected back from the various books on the
shelves, and it's the mix and the visual inclusion that's important, as well
as the stories themselves. 

 

Joanne Ladewig  (A.K.A. "Library Lady")

Library Media Tech

Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD

Garden Grove, California

shatz at verizon.net

 

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark.
Professionals built the Titanic.

Comments are my own and may not represent the views of GGUSD

 

  _____  

From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Lisa Gonzalez
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 2:03 PM
To: calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
Subject: [CALIBK12] building a diverse collection

 

Our school just finished our WASC accreditation process and one of our major
recommendations was for the library to improve our collection in terms of
its diversity and multi-cultural materials.  My administration is asking me
to come up with specific criteria such as "What percentage of our resources
should be multicultural?" and "How many multicultural books do we need to
buy each year?"  I looked at the CSLA standards, specifically  2.1
("Contains materials representing the community's diversity...") and 3.5
("Contains resources that enlarge understanding of ethnic and cultural
differences"), but the guidelines presented are for all books, not just
multicultural books.  

 

I posed this question to Maria Petropulos, who was the chairperson for the
CSLA Standards for School Library Media Resources.  She responded by saying
that setting a percentage of "multicultural books" would mean I'd also have
to give a percentage for other types of books like poetry, sci fi, etc.  She
encouraged me to build a collection that " meets individual needs of the
students at your school and represent all types of cultures so that students
can learn about cultures different from their own" and to make sure to
include resources that validate and raise the esteem of minority groups.
She also encouraged me to post the question on CALIBK12.  

 

So, can anyone share with me any wisdom or point me towards other resources
that can help me satisfy my administration's requirements for a quantitative
criteria?  I don't necessarily agree with putting a number on how many books
are considered "diverse" or "multicultural," but for now, I do need to
provide my administration with some sort of rough number.  

 

I appreciate any suggestions you can give.  Thank you in advance!

 

Lisa M. Gonzalez

Library Media Specialist

Valley Christian School

100 Skyway Drive

San Jose, CA 95111
(408) 513-2426

lgonzalez at vcs.net

http://blogs.vcs.net/library/

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/attachments/20090514/b9d4efc4/attachment.html