School Librarians: How Inclusive is Your Collection?
How inclusive is your school's library collection? Aren't sure how to answer that? Perhaps you need an audit!
Don't know how to do an audit? Well, you're in luck!
Throughout November, the Library Journal and School Library Journal will conduct a three-part LIVE ONLINE INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP to help you out!
The workshop, Evaluating, Auditing, and Diversifying Your Library Collection, will help teach you how to evaluate books and media through an inclusive lens. That includes the experiences of "LGBTQIA people, people of color, non-binary or gender non-conforming people, and ethnic, cultural, religious minorities, and more."
As you go about diversifying your collections, you might have to seek out books from independent authors to capture the varied experiences and interests of students.
For example, I write adventure stories for girls—especially African-American girls. They certainly deserve to read about characters like themselves learning self-love or overcoming hardships specific to their diversity. But they also need to see themselves solving the same problems that other kids face and going on the same thrilling journeys (whether fantasy or real) as those other kids.
I wrote about this topic previously in an Op-Ed piece for the Atlanta Journal Constitution Get Schooled blog. You can find it here.
You can find more info about the LJ/SLJ workshop on the LJ's website. You better hurry though. It begins on November 5th, so you only have a few days left to register!
Morgan Young is the author of LANA & THE WATER CARRIER, a middle grade adventure novel about a quirky African-American girl with sensory issues and a magic telescope. You can order it here or wherever books are sold.
