Media Mania
How can the media center better serve our schools in today's modern world?
The dictionary defines diversity as "the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc." In researching and blogging on diversity in literature, it is painfully obvious that there is a giant gap in representation. I also started to become aware that are scope of diversity can be very small. In contrast, the actual scope of diversity is HUGE! So many types of people and backgrounds make up the world. I am most likely not going to become a producer of literature. But, I can make sure the selection of books on my media center shelves accurately reflects my students. As important as it is for our kids to see themselves in books, I think it is equally as important for students to read about people who are different than them. It will broaden their world and open doors to things they have never seen before. In order to understand diversity in literature and to reflect that in our collections, we have to make sure our scope is wide enough to understand all of the nuisances under the diversity umbrella. Here are some videos I found helpful and informative on the importance of diversity in literature. Shyno Chacko discusses what it was like growing up in India with no mainstream books that reflected her and how we can correct it. A quick snapshot of why diverse literature is so important. A run down on how we can bring diverse lit into the classroom.
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At a recent Professional Learning meeting, the county media specialist was alerting us to the fact there has been some trouble in nearby districts with book complaints. Those complaints were for the most part about books with LGBTQ+ characters and subject matter. The Love, Simon books had recently been attacked and reviewed by one of the school boards.
This conversation sparked me to look at the books on my media center shelves. Not to censor, but to make sure I had equal representation for the students who needed it. I also researched popular LGBTQ+ titles. That's when I found this graphic that highlights the discrepancy of the representation of this group of people in literature. In doing research for a grad school course, I came across this article that discusses the importance of children being exposed to diversity in literature. The author, BJ Epstein, states "Despite knowing how important it is for diversity to be represented in our day-to-day lives, many children’s books are still littered with white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender, nominally Christian characters. And research suggests that over 80% of characters in children’s books are white – which clearly doesn’t reflect the reality of our world." She continues to explain that the statistics showing how white washed our literature is was the inspiration behind the creating of the We Need Diverse Books movement. Founded by Ellen Oh and Malinda Lo, the movement's goal is to bring the problem to light, educate us on how we can correct it, and teach the importance of works that give us access to the worlds of others. Diversebooks.org offers too many resources to list. They are tools that can be used to broach tough subjects and add diversity to our library shelves. It is an amazing resource for any media specialist. Watch a video about WNDB and what they do. We all know reading is good for us. It has a million benefits. But it can also expand our world, our views and our scope. Stretching ourselves makes us better people. One way to do that, it to make sure our reading lists include works where the characters are different from us. I am a white female living in the deep south. So if I read Gone With The Wind- the characters are like me. If I read There Eyes Were Watching God or The Color Purple, I get a window into characters who lived in the same area as me, but lead much different lives. In our school media centers, we need to ensure our demographic is reflected in the book collection. Not only so our students can see themselves in the pieces, but to provide windows into the lives of people we are different from. To build an understanding, to build empathy, to save the world. I found this article by Kate Sullivan very illuminating on this topic: Why Diversity in Literature Matters
I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in high school. I had never read a book where the main protagonist was someone with special needs. Christopher, the main character, is autistic. The main points of the book surround the events of his mother "dying" and Christopher finding his neighbor's dog murdered.
The book explores Christopher's "ticks", characteristics, and habits. We can see the affect his diagnosis has on his life and the lives of those around him. The books allows us a window into the live of someone different than us and can create empathy in the reader. It has also been made into a play. Do you have another example of Special Needs reflected in Literature? |
April A. WaldenI am a mom, a wife, and a brand new Librarian. Living that Media Specialist life while learning all the things! Archives |