[aisle] Hit: Diversity Audits for books and materials (so far...😃)

Tue May 11 17:49:34 CDT 2021

Thank you for sharing this. I will be meeting my 10 month old grandson for
the first time in June, so I can't join you on Zoom, but I look forward to
continuing discussions!

Christine Cahill
Teacher/Librarian
Carrie Busey Elementary School (K-5)
304 Prairie Rose Lane
Savoy, IL 61874
217-351-3811
cahillch at u4sd.org

On Tue, May 11, 2021 at 3:43 PM Neha Thakkar via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Here are the responses I received. Thank you all for your input! Also,
> multiple people requested to start a Zoom or other discussion. If you are
> interested, can you share your best time for June
> <https://doodle.com/poll/5387mnedu5k6nir4?utm_source=poll&utm_medium=link> (CST
> time)? I'll review and send out a date, time, links once we have a
> consensus in the poll.
>
> My original query:
> We are continuing our work around DEI and I'd like to start some
> conversations and provide resources around a diversity audit. Any great
> checklists, articles, podcasts, videos, etc? I know it was presented a
> couple years ago at a ISACS conference/meeting, and I'd love updated
> materials. Thank you!
> ---
> ---
> I led one of those groups for LMAIS and I've learned so much since then.
> School Library Journal has offered a series of classes: I learned so
> much during the 15 hour class entitled, "Equity in Actions: Building
> Diverse Collections," and it was extremely helpful. I had done one last
> year on how to conduct a diversity audit. By the way, I didn't do the whole
> diversity audit because I didn't feel it would be the best use of my time
> with 3 days a week and no parents entering the building, even library
> volunteers. I've developed what I feel is a really good collection of
> diverse books by following School LIbrary Journals and articles, along with
> author websites, but I'm sure you're all doing that, too. There have been
> some especially good ones.
> This site is amazing:
> https://diversebooks.org/resources-old/where-to-find-diverse-books/
> This site includes links to many other sites, and that is
> an understatement.
>
> I get emails from Colors of Us and Brighty, but I don't recommend them. I
> look at them, but they'll have amazing books interspersed with Berenstein
> Bears and The Muppets and Little Golden Books. They aren't librarians, but
> you can find interesting titles and find reviews in SLJ.
>
> We did have people answer in a survey, "What languages other than English
> are spoken in your home by adults or children?" ...  We now have at least
> one book that represents each of 60 languages. Cataloging something I
> couldn't read and trying to find Dewey numbers were challenging, but I'm
> very pleased. Up until the pandemic, I had parents who spoke a particular
> language, but, well, then there's the pandemic. I'll have them help as soon
> as I can to add and clean up the records, but that means I am sitting with
> them. In trying to find some of the languages, I've made some library
> friends, too, like my Assyrian-speaking friend who sent me books for my
> Assyrian speakers.
>
> I am working with an 8th grade boy whom I've loved since he was a first
> grader. He was chosen to receive a merit scholarship from the school which
> required him to do a service project for the school. He chose to add more
> banned books to the library and to update our classics section with new
> copies. I should add that because we did a play called "The Enchanted
> Bookshop" with a dozen literary characters, interest soared over Tom
> Sawyer, Alice in Wonderland, etc, and this boy played Tom Sawyer. We're
> trying to be culturally sensitive in the choices.
> ---
> We have started planning to do a diversity audit and this blog has been
> helpful to give some ideas on how to plan, where to start and what things
> to keep in mind as you are auditing.
>
> https://dontyoushushme.com/2020/06/15/diversity-audit-a-practical-guide/
> ---
>
> If you have Destiny, and it's by no means perfect, you can use their DEI
> and SEL audit.  It needs to be turned on with your rep.  We found it's a
> good starting point.
> ---
> https://diversebookfinder.org/
>
> We used the above link as a starting point.
> ---
> You can now run a diversity audit in Collection Analysis in Titlewave.
> It’s not perfect – double counts books that are in multiple categories, but
> it is a start.
> ---
> I'd love to know what libraries are using as targets. How do you define a
> diverse library? It is it in alignment to what is published? What your
> school population is?
>
> And would love to set up a Zoom to talk about the process (very
> informally), and see if anyone has any tips or tricks.
> ---
> I am really interested in this! I have set goals for both Elementary and
> Middle/High School libraries to display and provide more diverse books. I
> feel my goals are arbitrary sometimes. I am seeking a master's in
> Diversity and Equity in Education and would love to be a part of this
> meeting/ conversation!
> ---
> Our goal was to have fiction books where the main character(s) were
> traditionally underrepresented groups. We just wanted books that reflect
> our society as a whole rather than just the makeup of an individual school.
> ---
> I know that Mackin is providing materials for diversity audits.
> ---
> Multiple requests for a hit =)
>
>
>
> Neha Thakkar
> M.Ed, MLIS, Pronouns: she/her/hers
> 630-452-5317
> | nehathakkar114 at gmail.com
> Socials: @mrsthakkar <https://maps.google.com/?q=Socials:+@mrsthakkar>
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-thakkar-43a841b/>
> <http://instagram.com/mrsthakkar> <http://facebook.com/mrsthakkar>
> <http://twitter.com/mrsthakkar> <http://thakkarsthinkers.blogspot.com/>
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> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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