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

Thu May 20 14:34:02 CDT 2021

I'd like to participate. I'm open most of June, and after my last day on
the 4th, any time of day is fine. Wednesday afternoons are questionable for
me, but I can work around that.

On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 6:12 PM Roseann Janusz via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> I would like to join a Zoom session as well.
>
> Rose Janusz, MLIS
> Library Media Center Director
> DuPage High School District 88
> GSA Sponsor, WBHS
> (630) 628-2611
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 12, 2021 at 11:31 AM Linda Sawyer via AISLE <
> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> I would love to be part of a zoom on this topic.
>>
>> Linda
>>
>> Linda Zeilstra Sawyer
>> School Librarian/Information Specialist
>> St. Francis Xavier School
>> 808 Linden Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091
>> (847) 256-0644
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, May 12, 2021 at 10:57 AM Karen Doyle via AISLE <
>> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>
>>> I hadn't replied earlier, but am interested in being in the discussion.
>>> I answered the poll.  Thanks for setting this up!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Karen Doyle
>>> Library Media Specialist
>>>
>>> Komarek School
>>> 8940 W. 24th St
>>> North Riverside, IL 60546
>>> 708-447-8030 x 143
>>> kdoyle at komarek94.org
>>> www.komarekschool.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/>
>>>> <http://youtube.com/mrsthakkar> <http://pinterest.com/mrsthakkar>
>>>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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