We Need Diverse Libraries: Collection Development and the Diverse Books Movement

This spring I had the opportunity to present on how library collection development can support the movement for increasing diversity within children’s literature at the Simmons Graduate Student Symposium. I argue that diverse collections are essential for living up to the American Library Association’s commitment to providing equitable access to information resources. Our patrons of color, our LGBTQ patrons, our patrons with disabilities all deserve access to information and recreational reading that reflects their experiences. In addition, exposure through literature to the a greater diversity of human experiences can help combat the implicit biases that lead to microagressions and more overt forms of prejudice and violence.

You can watch my presentation here:

The power point slides for my presentation can be downloaded from the Simmons Library and Information Science Media Lab here. My presentation is part of a panel. The entire panel includes presentations by Emily Coolidge Toker on “Agency in the Foretold, Agency in Narrative Construction: Naming and Claiming ‘the Anna’ in Jane Yolen’s Sister Light, Sister Dark,” and by Nicole Cunha on “Censorship of Disabled Characters in Fantasy: What That Means For Children’s Literature and Libraries.”