[CALIBK12] building a diverse collection

Fri May 15 18:04:07 PDT 2009

Thanks for the great list, Joanne. It is an approach that could be  
adapted to Middle School and High School quite easily.

Joan

Joan McCall
Beattie Middle School
Redlands USD

On May 14, 2009, at 4:46 PM, ladewig wrote:

> 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/
>
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