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

Wed May 12 07:07:35 CDT 2021

I also would love to be involved in something like this. I also will not be
available on June 3 or 4, but it isn't about me.

Has anyone tackled a project like this that is not a Destiny school, or
does not buy the bulk of their materials from Follett? I often see them
mentioned as a good way to get started and wondered if there was another
way.
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Sincerely,

Kendra Hodgson-Newton, MLIS
Glenview Middle School
East Moline School District #37
3100 7th St.
East Moline, IL 61244
Phone: 309-755-1919 ext. 233

On Tue, May 11, 2021 at 9:00 PM Kelly Davis via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> I'd love to join in the conversation as well, but I'll be out of town that
> week. Let me know if there is another time.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Kelly Davis
> Learning Resource Center Director
> Cossitt Avenue School
> 708-215-6218
>
>
> 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/>
>> <http://youtube.com/mrsthakkar> <http://pinterest.com/mrsthakkar>
>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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