The Roald Dahl Story Company, recently purchased by Netflix, has agreed to change the wording in 17 of Roald Dahl’s written works, after suggestions by consultants from Inclusive Minds, an organization that aims to represent a diverse society through books that foster “inclusivity, diversity, equality, and accessibility in children’s literature.” [Article here.]
Tag: diversity and inclusion
Intellectual Freedom & Information Literacy in Valentine’s Day Programs
It’s February, and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, some of us are preparing for storytimes and programs that either celebrate the day itself, or look at concepts of love, family and friendship. ALSC’s Intellectual Freedom Committee recently released the Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit, created to help you incorporate concepts of intellectual freedom and information literacy into staple programs like these. Here’s 3 ideas inspired by the toolkit that you can use to incorporate these principles into your existing Valentine’s Day storytimes.
Overwhelmed by: Outreach to Migrant Communities
Outreach to underserved communities is an overwhelming endeavor. Our committee does not want to make it look easy because it truly is not. However, we truly believe that all library staff can do this type of work with the right tools and support. This is why one of our focuses this year is to bridge the gap between tangible resources (like our existing toolkits) and how to get started. Melody Leung and Marika Jeffrey wrote an article in this summer’s issue of Children and Libraries with some guiding questions to help evaluate your community, develop fruitful partnerships, and implement programs and outreach with specific communities in mind. Guiding questions can be helpful but specific examples might help bring those concepts to life. Here is a specific example about reaching out to a migrant community: Getting Started Four years ago, I started working in a rural community in Washington State. To…
How to Conduct a Diversity Audit
I learned about the concept of a diversity audit from a School Library Journal article by Karen Jensen. In a diversity audit, you evaluate an existing collection or service provided by your library to get hard numbers on how diverse your collection or service truly is. This can cover anything from seeing what percentage of your board books feature non-white characters, to how many LGBTQ+ titles are written by Own Voices authors, or evaluating the performers you’ve hired over the last year to see if they are representing diverse cultures.
#alavirtual20 National Associations of Librarians of Color (NALCo)
The National Associations of Librarians of Color (NALCo) presented several dynamic programs during #alavirtual20. NALCo members also co-presented and served as panelists for other programs throughout the duration of the Virtual Event. Programs included but were not limited to: AILA President’s Program: Honouring and Respecting Relationship: Rethinking Library Praxis Behind the Wires: American Concentration Camps Then and Now (APALA LIVE) E. J. Josey’s 1964 Charge: ‘Keep on Pushing’ (BCALA LIVE) Treasure Hunters at Libraries? Why Not!! (CALA LIVE) Juntos: Latinx Family Engagement at Your Library ALA President, Julius C. Jefferson, Jr , recently released a statement: ALA takes responsibility for past racism, pledges a more equitable association. As libraries work to become more intentional about improving internal and external relationships, reexamine outreach efforts, and reevaluate services provided to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, they can look to the work of NALCo for examples of best practices, positive…
Serving the Underserved during the Pandemic
In the current changing landscape for families and libraries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, librarians are suddenly tasked with providing resources and activities in a digital environment. Providing robust programs for marginalized or underserved populations is especially a challenge, and we wanted to provide resources for librarians that may assist in addressing the needs of these populations.
ALSC Equity Fellows at #alamw19
ALSC’s six Equity Fellows attended the Midwinter Meeting in Seattle in January. Thank you to members of the ALSC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force for their mentorship throughout the Midwinter conference and beyond to help the fellows feel welcomed in our organization. We reached out to the fellows to learn more about their experience attending Midwinter and this is what some of them shared: Some favorite highlights of ALA Midwinter as an ALSC Equity fellow included getting to know the other fellows and mentors on a more personal level, hearing about and seeing the soon-to-be published titles, and attending the ALA Youth Media Awards as well as VIP publisher events. One of the best things about attending conferences is the people you meet or reconnect with. Since I arrived to Seattle early, I took the initiative and went to the Joint Youth Executive Meeting on Thursday afternoon despite not…
Words Matter: Owning and Learning from Our Mistakes
By Jamie Campbell Naidoo, 2018-2019 ALSC President with Elisa Gall, ALSC Board Member The ALSC Institute this past weekend was filled with excitement, passion, and lots of energy generated by just over 400 children’s librarians, youth services educators, children’s book creators, children’s literature researchers, and other professionals working to promote children’s literacy. The new ALSC logo was also unveiled at the Institute; check it out on the ALSC Facebook page.The conference materials for the Institute described the meeting as an intensive learning experience for attendees. With the theme of All Aboard!: Embracing Advocacy & Inclusion, many of the Big Ideas sessions, keynotes, and individual breakouts addressed equity, diversity, and inclusion work that is ongoing and needed in the field and within ALSC. Check out the ALSC Blog for #ALSC18 entries that highlight some of this exciting work. Speakers also prompted attendees to think critically about ways that they can become…