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Category: News

Recent news and happenings, conferences, events and more from the Diverse BookFinder team.

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As our schools and libraries are closed, we at the Diverse BookFinder are trying to continue to offer access and resources related to picture books featuring BIPOC. This post will explore e-books, with a few recommended titles that you can borrow immediately (unless they’re already on loan in your library system). Through the coming weeks, ...continue reading "For These Strange & Difficult Times: Finding Diverse Electronic Picture Books #1"

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Last month, we once again joined the excellent offering of Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorative activities at Bates College, hosting the only event on the day-long program for families with young children. To our surprise, in addition to the dozen or so children who attended with their parents and caregivers, some forty or so ...continue reading "Using K-3 Picture Books to Talk About Race & Racism With Children"
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In October, we launched our free, online Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) -- funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services -- to help librarians across the nation diversify their bookshelves. A recent survey done by School Library Journal indicates that the majority of librarians feel it is "very important" to have a racially and ...continue reading "How to Gain Support for & Navigate Challenges to Diversifying Your Library’s Collection"

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This is the first in a series of posts chronicling the places where members of our team have traveled to share the Diverse BookFinder. At the end of June, I flew to Israel at the invitation of the English Teachers Association of Israel (ETAI), to speak at a number of events during July's "English Week." ...continue reading "DBF On the Road: Israel"

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As we find ourselves in the thick of mud season (AKA spring) here in central Maine, and the trees are finally budding after a long winter, we’re excited to share our own news of growth! This coming fall, the Diverse BookFinder (DBF) will launch a free, online Collection Analysis Tool (AKA “the CAT”) to help ...continue reading "The Most Diverse Picture Book Collections in the U.S. & How the Diverse BookFinder Can Help You Diversify Yours"

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As some of you may remember, I started this year by writing a blog post about a collection development experiment I decided to undertake that was focused by this question: What if the only picture books and picture book biographies I buy for my K-3 collection only featured characters of color? It is now late-February ...continue reading "An Experiment with Inclusive Literature, Part II: One White Elementary Librarian’s Endeavor to Diversify Her Picture Book Collection"

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For the third year in a row, the Diverse BookFinder team honored the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday with a family program as part of the Bates College series of events. In response to the 2019 theme, "Lifting Every Voice: Intersectionality and Activism," we focused on women activists. An initial search for Category: Biography ...continue reading "Women of Color Leading the Way: Celebrating MLK Day"

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We have identified nine categories that capture the messages conveyed by children's books featuring characters of color. Every book in the Diverse BookFinder collection is coded using one or more of these nine themes. The Nine Dominant Categories We Use Are: Beautiful Life: A focus on culture Oppression: Struggle, resistance, and triumph Cross-group: Interactions across ...continue reading "How to Use Our Cross-Group Category to Foster the Development of Friendships Across Racial/Cultural Difference"

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We believe that too many children are left out of mainstream picture books, so we research who is currently included — and how — to spark conversation and change. We would like to improve on how we categorize Native stories, including origin stories and the sacred. Humbly recognizing that it can take many people to ...continue reading "Seeking Input and Ideas from North American Indigenous Peoples"

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In May 2017, I was invited by Anne Sibley O’Brien, author and illustrator, and by Dr. Krista Aronson, psychology professor at Bates College in Maine, to participate in the Diverse BookFinder Advisory Council. The Diverse BookFinder is an online comprehensive source that parents, teachers, librarians, authors, and publishers can use to locate picture books featuring ...continue reading "An Experiment with Inclusive Literature: One White Elementary Librarian’s Endeavor to Diversify Her Picture Book Collection"

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