What do we mean by diverse?

Representation Disability

Gender/Non Binary/Gender bias Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD)

LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, Mental Health (bipolar, depression,

transgender, queer/questioning, anxiety, schizophrenia)
Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual)
Religion
Family Structures
Body Diversity
Living Situations
Intersecting
Socioeconomic Diversity Identities/Intersectionality

Source: http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/files/2017/11/Diversity-Audit-Outline-2017-with-Sources.pdf
Why is it important to have diverse collections?
● They reflect the world and people of the world
● They teach respect for all cultural groups
● They serve as a window and a mirror and as an example of how to
interact in the world
● They show that despite differences, all people share common
feelings and aspirations
● They can create a wider curiosity for the world
● They prepare children for the real world
● They enrich educational experiences

Source: http://weneeddiversebooks.org/faq/

Rudine Sims Bishop
“Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”
“Books are sometimes windows,
offering views of the worlds that
may be real or imagined, familiar
or strange. These windows are
also sliding glass doors, and
readers have only to walk through
in imagination to become a part of
whatever world has been created
or recreated by the author. When
lighting conditions are just right,
however, a window can also be a
mirror. Literature transforms
human experience and reflects it
back to us, and in that reflection
we can see our own lives and
experiences as part of the larger
human experience.”
 "When children cannot find
Rudine Sims Bishop themselves reflected in the
books they read, or when the
images they see are distorted,
negative , or laughable, they
learn a powerful lesson about
how they are devalued in the
society of which they are a
part. Our classrooms (and
libraries) need to be places where
all the children from all the
cultures that make up the salad
bowl of American society can find
“Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”
their mirrors."

Source: http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/multicultural /mirrors-windows-and-sliding-glass-doors.htm

Source: https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AASL-Standards-Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pdf
Since 1985, the CCBC has kept
track of children’s books
received by and about Africans
and African Americans; in 1994
began counting books by and
about Asians and Asian
Americans, Latinxs, and
Indigenous peoples. Beginning
in 2018, expanded the range of
collected data to include
representations of LGBTQIAP+
identities, disability, and
religion.
Source: CCBC https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/
Source: https://blog.leeandlow.com/2020/01/28/2019diversitybaselinesurvey/
Diversity
Audits
Types of Diversity Audits
○ Whole collection
○ Small section of collection
○ Random sample
○ Reverse Audit

● One off or sustainable project?

http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-benefits-limits-
of-diversity-audits.html
Collection Analysis Tool https://cat.diversebookfinder.org/
Setting Goals and
Developing a Plan
● Goal Setting
○ Census Data
○ Community Demographic Data
○ School Data
■ ELLs
■ FRL
■ Special Education
● Develop a purchasing and
weeding plan
- Multi-year
- Tied to funding request

Census—Geography Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2020, from

https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?q=United%20States&tid=ACSDP1Y2018.DP05
Resources
● Karen Jenson TLTB Diversity Audit
● All the Wonders Books Between Podcast - Engaging students
in a diversity audit!
● NYU Culturally Responsive Scorecard Tool to help parents,
teachers, students, and community members determine the
extent to which their schools’ English Language Arts curricula
are (or are not) culturally responsive.
● School Library Connection August/September 2019 -
Programming with Diversity in Mind
Collection Development
● The Brown Bookshelf https://thebrownbookshelf.com/
● We Need Diverse Books https://diversebooks.org/
● Here Wee Read http://hereweeread.com/
● Pragmatic Mom https://www.pragmaticmom.com/
● Diverse Book Awards
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/childrens-book-a
wards-other-organizations
● Crazy Quilt Edi https://crazyquiltedi.blog/me-2-0/
 Valerie Byrd Fort, MLIS
Instructor
School of Information Science, UofSC
Cocky's Reading Express
South Carolina Center for Community Literacy
1430 Senate Street
Columbia, SC 29201
803.777.1730
valbyrd@mailbox.sc.edu
http://www.valeriebyrdfort.com