Where will I be all day? Talking about the importance of diversity!
I was invited to take part as a facilitator in the Association for Library Services to Children's Day of Diversity: Dialogue and Action in Children's Literature and Library Programming, an all day symposium focusing on just what the title implies -- Diversity in Children's Lit & Library Programming. There will be a Keynote, 3 panels, and 2 corresponding breakout sessions (one of which I'll be co-facilitating) -- I'll give each major section a separate blog to come later in the evening or tomorrow morning. An outline of our day and background on the need/guiding discussion going on in the community is linked here in case you're interested or can't wait for my report -- It includes links to some really great reading regarding the topic of diversity in lit and libs. I especially enjoyed K.T. Horning's article and Balderamma's.
Upcoming Blogs to Look Forward To:
- Keynote: From Broken Yolks to Party Folks: The Importance of Libraries and Literacy in Keeping Diversity Alive For Our Children
- Panel 1/Breakout 1: Diversity in Children’s Literature: History and Myths/Show Me the Diversity!
- Panel 2/Breakout 2: Literacy Programming: Forming Partnerships and Sharing Resources/Partners in Diversity
- Panel 3/Wrap Up & Next Steps: Moving into Action
Perhaps the library community can influence publishers in this area. Yes, they need to make money but really good books (The Watson's go to Birmingham comes to mind) appeal to a wide audience and sell for years.
ReplyDeleteYes, Renee, totally! We had some important discussions today with publishers as to how the publishing process works on the larger level and how we, as individual librarians can use our buying power to show that we NEED these books. I think we covered that mostly in the 2nd or 3rd panel... I'm still compiling all my notes -- it's quite a jumble!
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