University of Central Florida staff members Kristine Shrauger, Amy Dovydaitis and Emma Gisclair have created a database in order to provide access to diverse books that are ‘hidden’ in the library stacks. Hidden because the formal subject headings assigned to them do not reflect the details within the books that families are looking for: diversity in race, culture, sexuality, family relationships, health and disability. Using an intake form to categorize books they are building their Diverse Families Bookshelf database. They take a ‘picture walk’ through picture books as well as deeply reading and categorizing books for kids up to age 18. The PowerPoint of the program is here. They welcome your assistance on this important project that benefits all families.
Tag: PLA 2020
#PLA 2020 Wrap-up 1: Haben Girma
Gosh, so much for ‘live’ blogging! So many great programs and so little time to write about them. The conference ended a few hours ago and I want to share some notes I took while I’m still flying high with happiness and inspiration. This is the first of several posts. I’ll add to Abby Johnson’s great post about Haben Girma: Steer Around the Sharks. Before Ms. Girma was born, her mother traveled from Eritrea to Sudan, where she spent 10 months before arriving in the US. She thought the US would offer the justice she was looking for, but she realized that geography doesn’t create justice, people create justice.
Soledad O’Brien loves libraries! #PLA2020
The award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien loves libraries and librarians! Some inspirational takeaways for me: She feels a strong sense of kinship with our industry—“we both woke up one day and realized ‘omg! we are in the social justice business!’ “ She shared many statistics showing the number of people who trust public libraries has actually gone up at a time when trust in other institutions is declining. When nobody in America seems to agree on anything, 90%! of people describe the library as a welcoming place. Libraries invest in knowledge, in serving all people where they are, which gives those people power—power that can never be taken away. Who defines representing people, all people, better than libraries? Nobody, she concludes. And finally, she feels that libraries are great unifiers in a divided world. The Big Ideas talks have been educational, inspiring, and a great way to start each conference day. As a…