While access to multicultural literature is abundant, it can often be overwhelming. A wonderful website that will aid in the selection of quality and authentic multicultural literature for children and young adults is Worlds of Words, also known as WOW. WOW is written and sponsored by the University of Arizona's College of Education. WOW's primary goal is to provide librarians and teachers with access to resources "for building bridges between cultures" (Worlds of Words (WOW), 2011, para 1). Booklists can be searched by region, age or genre. This great website also provides access to two on-line journals about multicultural literature and programming ideas. WOW can be accessed at http://wowlit.org/.
Children's multicultural books naturally provide a wonderful platform for multicultural programming. A question many librarians ponder or should ponder when planning a multicultural program is "how do you portray a culture without conforming to stereotypes, educate people at the same time, and involve everyone" (Bird, 2009)? In the blog entry "Multicultural Programming for Dummies", Bird offers some sage advice and guidelines for those seeking to plan a quality multicultural program.
Some of the best advice offered by Bird (2009) includes:
- Multicultural programming is NOT "cultural tourism"
- Don't be afraid to have programs about foreign countries (ex. Mexico) but understand that these should not replace programs about specific groups in the United States (ex. Mexican Americans).
- The earlier the better.
- Multiculturalism is not a once of month deal.
- Provide programs that honor cultural diversity throughout the year so that programs do not become superficial by limiting multiculturalism to Black History month or Cinco de Mayo.
- Start with a story time that involves literary, oral, and cultural traditions that are both educational, authentic, and allow the community and library to work together.
- Have craft sessions that reflect the culture in its complexity and within its cultural context.
- Host booktalks, reading clubs, and read aloud sessions. Children like to express their opinion on what they read or hear just as much as you do. (Bird, 2009, paras 2-5).
The Librarianship Upgrades for Children and Youth Services (LUCY) is a wonderful resource for librarians seeking continuing education in the areas of multiculturalism and diversity (Marrah & Mills, 2011). LUCY was started by the Library and Information Science Program at Old Dominion University in Virginia (Marrah & Mills, 2011). Diversity training is offered through workshops and webinars (Marrah & Mills, 2011). Videos and archived webinars can be viewed at the LUCY website, http://education.odu.edu/eci/lucy/. This website also lists upcoming training opportunities. LUCY aims to educate librarians on how to diversify their library collection by providing more bilingual and multilingual books (Marrah & Mills, 2011). An excellent bibliography of books provided by LUCY pertaining to multiculturalism and diversity is also found at the following link:http://education.odu.edu/eci/lucy/. A search can be made by type of book, country or ethnic group.
As you can see, a wealth of information and resources are available for librarians who want to integrate multiculturalism and diversity into their collections and programs. The potential impact on children who would benefit from having access to such a diversified collection and programs is beyond measure. It is the responsibility of children's librarians to make sure that such opportunities are made available to their young patrons.
References:
American Library Association. (2011). Retrieved November 21, 2011, from The Schneider Family Book Award:
Bird, T. (2009, November 18). Multicultural programming for dummies. Message posted to
Diament, M. (2011, January 4). Characters with disabilities scarce in top children's books. Message posted to
Marrah, A., & Mills, R. (2011). LUCY: A new path to diversity. Library Media Connection, 29(5), 14-15. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database
Worlds of Words. (2011). Retrieved November 21, 2011, from WOW!:
Great resources, Karine. I feel like as our society becomes more diverse, so do the selection of books available. Especially in the area of disabilities, it seems that the technologies that make self-publishing a reality have allowed many authors (or parents or social workers turned authors) to approach topics not often found in books published by big companies. While these books may not make big waves seperately, taken as a whole, I think they can lead to greater quality and diversity in the industry.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that programs supporting multiculturalism and diversity need to be more than a once in a while occurance. The more seamlessly they can be incorporated into all of the library's programs, the less "other" they seem.
Another resource that I like as a continuation of multicultural programs is the International Children's Digital Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/.
Thanks Beth. As far as the once in a while occurance, I guess you could compare it to celebrating Earth Day once a year versus going "green" and actually start to recycle reguarly and do what it takes to leave a lighter footprint. Thanks for sharing the information about the International Digital Library!
ReplyDeleteKarine
I found this post extremely helpful since I hope to because a Children's Librarian myself! It appears that many of the resources available to librarians to help explore diversity and multiculturalism is also used by teachers. I think this shows the role a Children's Librarian has; an educator. This being said, it is definitely important that a variety of children's books are promoted in the library. Whether this be on display or during story telling, the children who visit the library should see many different kinds of characters.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it interesting how you mentioned that books representing children with disabilities were not prevalent. I hope the initiative that you mentioned helps to expand this collection. I looked to find some good titles and found the following blog:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/309237-children-s-books-with-disabled-characters
These are just some titles that are recommended by a variety of people. A couple sound very good!