Tag Archives: diverse books

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools: Diverse BookFinder

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

This week we’re talking about the impressive tool Diverse BookFinder. This resource is focused on sharing BIPOC picture books, with a focus on “who” is portrayed, but also “how” they are being portrayed. Start with the article “What Does a Diverse Collection Look Like?” and try out their Collection Analysis Tool.

Grades: K-3 (target audience) but useful for all ages.


“Diverse BookFinder is a catalog of trade picture books published or distributed in the U.S. since 2002 that includes:A Unique Circulating Collection: Diverse BookFinder collects all depictions of Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) in picture books. Anyone with a library card can check these books out through Interlibrary Loan.A Search Tool: Diverse BookFinder is first-of-its-kind online, searchable database making it easier for educators to locate and explore picture books featuring BIPOC characters.A Source of Critical Data: Diverse BookFinder provides real-time data on WHO (which BIPOC characters) is depicted and — using unique book categories — HOW they are depicted in diverse picture books.A Collection Analysis Tool (CAT): Diverse BookFinder offers a free, online tool designed to help libraries diversify their picture book collections.”

Learn more about the details of this app from this article by Literary Fusions. Reading Is Fundamental has this blog post explaining more of the tools Diverse BookFinder offers. And this page from I’m Your Neighbor lists books and other resources similar to Diverse BookFinder.

Watch this one minute video explaining their Collection Analysis Tool:

Guest Blogger, Materials

Lisa Lindbloom Extended Mini Grant

This is a guest post from Lisa Lindbloom in the media center at Sartell Middle School. Find out more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

Thank you CMLE for supporting Sartell Middle School Students! We are so excited to see the books flying off the shelf with the return of students to our building.

The diverse books that were purchased over the summer have inspired our students to venture out and read about other cultures, perspectives and experiences from new authors that have not been on our shelf before.  

Our students are already beginning to request the new books to be held for them and the conversations around literature have been great!

One of our favorite student reactions so far has been “Yes, I have been wanting to read this book! When did we get it?” The students’ excitement has been contagious!

Check it Out:, Guest Blogger

CMLE Guest Post: Join Me in Building Inclusive Collections

Guest Post by Jenny Hill, Ed.D. St. Cloud State University

I was recently reading a book about library media centers where the question was posed: When you walk into a media center, who does space the belong to, the media specialist, or the students (Wools & Coatney, 2018)? 

This is a convicting question and that makes me stop and think.  Media specialists may be the program administrators, but space needs to belong to the kids!  

That leads me to another question: who are our students?

As demographics continue to shift in our schools, I find that the 1990 work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, often referred to as “the mother of multicultural literature,” still rings true today.  In her classic essay, Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors, Dr. Bishop outlines the need for kids to have access to books that reflect who they are; mirrors; provide perspective into another’s world: windows; and provide a way for students to enter into another’s context: sliding glass doors.

Twitter seems to be echoing this idea in 2020 with hashtags such as #WeNeedDiverseBooks  #DiverseReads and #OwnVoices.

We all want to develop inclusive collections, but how can this be accomplished?

School Library Journal is hosting a series of webinars this fall called Equity in Action: Building Diverse Collections.  There are three parts being held virtually on Tuesday, October 20th, Tuesday, October 27th, and Tuesday, November 10th which include topics such as:

  • What is a diverse and inclusive collection?
  • Collection Management Strategies to Enact Change at Your Library
  • Equity Work Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
  • Conducting a Diversity Audit of Your Collections
  • Stereotypes, Tropes, and Cultural Appropriation: A Collection Development Deep Dive

Registration costs about $300 and self-paced options online are available if you cannot attend the live sessions.  More registration information can be found here.

If you do decide to attend, I would love to connect with you throughout the process and beyond to see if we can work together to implement some of the strategies presented so you can build a more inclusive collection in your schools. E-mail me at: jchill@stcloudstate.edu

References:

Reading Rockets. (2020).  A video interview with Rudine Sims Bishop, Ph. D.  https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/experts/rudine-sims-bishop

Woolls, B. & Coatney, S. (2018).  The school library media manager. 6th ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.