Diversity on Display

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

Recently, I sat down with a group of Collection Development librarians to talk about pressing issues in their work. All of them have been spending a great deal of time and energy examining the diversity of their collections, or performing diversity audits. (If you are unfamiliar with diversity audits, there have been many articles and webinars from ALA, Library Journal, and School Library Journal on the subject. Check out some sources below.) One of the concerns they brought up was that once a team has gone through all the work to balance the collection and purchase new materials, how might front-line staff become engaged in championing and promoting a more diverse collection of titles?

This question lit a fire in my brain. I spent several years on the Display & Marketing team at my public library, where we worked on encouraging face-out displays, shelf-talkers, and diversifying bookmarks and book lists. What would be some creative ways to give diverse books exposure all year long, not just during African American History Month or around Chinese New Year?

The most obvious suggestion is one I already mentioned — make sure that book lists include diverse authors and characters. Include titles about mixed religion families in Hanukkah or Christmas displays. Include characters of different races and sexual orientations in a “Cooking Up Romance” display. Feature some of the many lesser-known book awards like the Schneider Family Book Award, which honors books that “embody an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences,” or the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which “recognizes books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.”

Does your library empower all staff members to fill displays and write up recommendations? Encourage them to give suggestions about books to feature. Our staffs are full of diverse experiences, tastes, and perspectives. Get them excited by taking some ownership of promotion.

Since that conversation with librarians, I have had fun brainstorming book lists and displays a library could pull together to incorporate many diverse groups, authors, and experiences. Here are some to get you started that incorporate some of the trends I’ve seen in publishing this year:

Gender-Flipped Classics

Alternative History

Advocates You Never Knew

Pandemic Fiction

Behind-the-Scenes at the Theatre

Sizzlin’ TV Chefs

Magical Realism

Classic Tales Re-told

Horror

Social Emotional Learning

Immigration Experiences

Popular Crafts from Around the World

Space Opera

Reawakened Mythology

Up-and-Coming Detectives

Cooking Up Romance

Bookish Romance

Books Set in Our State

Unreal World Building

Reality is More Diverse Than Fiction

What are some ways your library gets front-line staff involved in promoting diverse titles? Share your suggestions of other great display and book list ideas that could include many voices. I’d love to steal them…I mean see them!

Further Reading:

Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your Collection. Karen Jensen. School Library Journal, October 22, 2018.

Conducting a Diversity Audit. Chelsey Roos. ALSC Blog, September 18, 2020

Counting the Collection: Conducting a Diversity Audit of Adult Biographies. Colleen Wood. Library Journal, May 25, 2021

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

Featuring Social Emotional Learning in the Library

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

Children’s books have always served as both entertainment and education. Whether characters are transported to a joust during King Arthur’s rule, exploring the Arctic, or experiencing the unique solutions offered by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, there are sprinkles of history, science, and social skills throughout most stories.

Picture books for the youngest have especially focused on making friends, sharing, and gaining mastery over emotions. Over the last several years, school districts in 29 states have adopted Social Emotional Learning standards as part of their curricula. As my son’s first grade teacher said, “I’m focused on teaching kindness.” Authors and publishers are rising to demand, with more books than ever that focus on these topics.

Social Emotional Learning, or SEL, has become a buzz-term. What exactly does it include? SEL equips children to:

• Manage emotions
• Collaborate with others
• Communicate effectively
• Make responsible decisions

Librarians can support community efforts to help kids with these skills by featuring titles on emotions, growth mindset, and inclusion in displays and book lists.

As the 2021 school year opens to continued stressors caused by the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and parents will be looking for resources to help kids revive dormant social skills and deal with anxiety, grieving, and life changes. Understanding and coping with the current social upheaval in our country also falls within the SEL framework. How can libraries help? Encourage staff to face-out attractive titles that focus on diverse experiences from around the world and around the neighborhood. These include not just racial or religious diversity, but also poverty, neurodivergence, and different kinds of families.

Those of us who love and use children’s literature in our work are so fortunate that books continue to entertain and educate, no matter our circumstances.

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

Librarians Stare at Their Phones, Too!

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

Just kidding… It’s true, though, that libraries of all kinds have gotten into the social media game, particularly during the period of COVID-19 closures.

Your library may have had a Twitter or Facebook account for years. Most public libraries have at least a small presence on these platforms for sharing information about press releases and library events. While many libraries were previously only using them for marketing, during the pandemic Facebook became one of the platforms for hosting virtual events. Storytime, genealogy presentations, summer reading program performers — these are all examples of events I attended virtually via Facebook during shut-downs. The best part for me? I was able to attend programs at libraries in other cities!

YouTube and Instagram, both so visual, have become platforms where patrons can go to find all kinds of things related to books and libraries. YouTube has a wealth of videos on any topic under the sun, including adults and kids recommending books, illustrators demonstrating their artistic process, and libraries posting about their resources. The Seattle Public Library’s YouTube channel posts author talks, job skills workshops, and general library information in many languages. The New York Public Library has created series called “Library Stories,” talking to their local patrons about the library’s impact on their lives. Wake County Public Libraries (South Carolina) update their storytime offerings on YouTube throughout the week on their “What’s Happening in Wake?” channel.

Source: Brooklyn Public Library’s Instagram Page

Instagram content from libraries really runs the gamut. Since Instagram is mainly photos, it gives libraries an opportunity to market themselves and their content in ways that are still somewhat traditional. The Free Library of Philadelphia @freelibrary account is a nice mix of promoting programming, sharing random trivia, recommending books, and issuing public announcements. Instagram is a good place to promote new library services; Salt Lake City Public Library @slcpl shared several attractive posts about their seed library this summer. Some libraries take a more playful approach and get involved in trends like #BookFaceFriday. The video capabilities on Instagram are a popular place for staff to recommend books or to post short video tours. Brooklyn Public Library @bklynlibrary has posted entire cooking programs on Instagram in their “Community Cooking” series.

Children’s authors and illustrators, in particular, really took to Instagram and its Instagram Live feature during the pandemic. Instagram is a great place to follow authors, publishers, and other librarians to keep up with new books and ideas. They often cross-promote, and you can get a real sense of what is trending.

Speaking of trends, TikTok is the hottest social media platform right now. TikTok is an app for very short video content. It is often under a minute and often uses musical overlays, not just speaking, when sharing a visual message. TikTok is really popular with teens, and you’ll find a lot of the book and library content is focused on YA books; some of the contributors with the most followers are school librarians. There are quite a few articles and posts around the web about why your public library ought to get on TikTok and how exactly to do it.

What kinds of things are libraries posting on TikTok? The very most popular is short book recommendations and even just cover shots of recommended books accompanied by music. #booktok content is so popular, it is driving book sales. Barnes and Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com) now even has a page dedicated to trending #booktok books. Many #booktok videos are live reactions to books as readers start a book they’re excited to read, cut to how they were feeling mid-book, and then finally tack on their immediate reaction at the end of the book – the more emotional, the better!

Other popular library content includes dispelling myths about libraries, showing how services work, and sharing observations about daily life in the library. A LOT of content is library comedy, silly shenanigans, and gags. Do you have a tech-savvy comedian on your staff? Put them in charge of your TikTok. The best way to get a sense of what is out there is to look at popular accounts and hashtags and see what other libraries are doing.

Kelsey Bogan, the Library Media Specialist at Great Valley High School (PA) has over 41,000 followers @gvhslibrary. She says one of her favorite parts of using #librarytiktok is reaching out to other librarians and creators and sharing ideas. According to her, TikTok is a much more genuine place than the other social media platforms and people are willing to help out. Miss B. also says not to let your age worry you; users don’t care how old you are or how you look, they just want good content. I have heard Miss B. speak a couple of times, but you can read more from her article in Schools Catalogue Information Services.

Here is a handy list of hashtags and handles to help you get a feel for #librarytiktok:

#librariansoftiktok

#tiktoklibrarian

#booktok

#blackbooktok

#diversifyyourbookshelves

@maricopalibrary

@comsewogue.library

@doverpubliclibrary

@gppubliclibrary

@ezeekat

@baille.the.librarian

@alifeofliterature @kendra.reads

Please share with us: Does your library have a social media account you’re especially proud of? Do you have favorite content we should check out? I am very new to TikTok and would love to hear more!

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

What Was Your Most Rewarding Experience as a Librarian?

As librarians, we all know on a base level that we’re making a difference, that our work is important. But too often, we lose sight of the key moments that fill us with joy, each true connection quickly overshadowed by the next project on our list.

Our librarians are excited to share the personal memories they turn to for that extra boost of inspiration.

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Julie O’Connor: “Cutting the Ribbon”

It’s difficult to pinpoint the most rewarding experience I’ve had as a librarian since my job is to help libraries with their collection development needs on a daily basis. It’s gratifying to help solve collection development conundrums, whether they be large or small. But if pressed, I think back to one of my first experiences as a project librarian. It was 2005 and Camden County, New Jersey, received funding to build a much-needed library. Their excitement was contagious because the residents and leaders had waited so long for this building. I know everyone is over the moon when a new library opens or is renovated, but experiencing that for the first time was something that will always stay with me.

Fern Hallman: “Seeing is Believing”

I was doing an ongoing vendor selection project and the librarians in that system were not thrilled that I was selecting their books. The library administrators who had decided to hire Brodart to do it that way held a meeting where the local library staff could ask me questions about my process. One of the librarians said she decided to put all of my recent selections on a book cart to really take a hard look at them and discovered that they were all checked out.

Scott Piepenburg: “Blazing a Trail”

My most rewarding experience as a librarian was when I was put in charge of the district automation program for Dallas Independent School District, then the eighth largest school district in the nation. We took 225 schools from only five with any type of automation to full automation in 18 months. This included purchasing and installing computers, creating a district-wide network (none existed at the time), and undertaking a complete retrospective conversion of the shelf lists.

At the time, it was the most extensive automation project in the nation and resulted in the largest school automation project in the United States; we did this while also creating and implementing centralized receiving and cataloging, doing almost 5,000 titles per week. Having no model to follow, as the system administrator, I was quite excited with the project, and pleased how well it turned out.

Stephanie Campbell: “The Stay-Behind”

When I was just starting out as a librarian, I worked in older adult outreach services and was charged with creating engaging programs for residents at nursing homes and assisted living apartments. The divergent mental and physical health issues found in institutional settings, coupled with different backgrounds and experiences, make these seniors a particularly challenging group to entertain. Playful activities such as bingo, crafts, and sing-alongs were the most prevalent among the in-house recreational offerings at that time.

I took a more educational approach, with book talks and brief documentaries on particular topics to encourage conversation. Residents often dozed off during my programs. Others left the room when they got bored. Some stayed just to be polite, then thanked me, and bolted out the door the minute it was over. I performed these programs monthly at multiple facilities and it was wonderful when the topic and the audience were a good match. But even if I could reach just one person, it made it all worthwhile.

I remember one female resident in particular who attended every program I did at that nursing home. One day, as she lingered after the presentation, she told me how much she valued my visits and the material I chose to present, because it made her feel like an adult again, not treated as a child. It was both heartbreaking and gratifying to hear that. I ended up personally delivering books to her outside of work for a while. The power of human connection really hit me, and I began to realize how much I could make a difference in someone’s life.

Suzanne Hawley: “Nothing Beats a ‘Black Tie’ Auction with a Vanna White Lookalike”

In order to get my fifth-graders to read more and write about what they read, I decided to hold a dress-up auction near the end of the school year. The kids read like crazy and wrote about what they’d read. The biggest hurdle for me was to read all the letters…there were at least 90 students writing letters most years! I gave them points, which would be used as dollars to bid with. On the day of the “black tie” auction, we gave each student a paper black bow tie with the number of dollars they had earned. We had an auctioneer and a Vanna White lookalike. Everyone—teachers, students, parents, administrators—were dressed to the nines. I used a book called “Celebrity Addresses” and sent letters to everyone in there I thought the kids would like an autograph or trinket from. It was exciting to watch the items roll in. We received, among other things, an autographed picture from Michael Jordan, a pound (!) of Wrigley bubblegum, an FBI cap, many gift certificates, tapes from popular singers, many coupons for restaurants, and so much more.

Parents manned tables where the kids would go with their ties when they won an item. They’d receive their winnings and the parent would subtract the amount it cost from their balance. I held these auctions in three schools for 20 years. Once a community realized how much fun it was, they began contributing items. We even got bicycles and TVs. Fifth grade was the highest grade in all these schools. Teachers from other grades were invited to bring their classes in to watch for half an hour and in the last schools we could stream it on the TV. The end result was a huge increase enthusiasm for reading in every grade. The kids couldn’t wait to get to fifth grade so they could participate in the auction.

Kat Kan: “A Zoom Surprise and a Virtual Hug”

There have been so many over the several decades that I’ve worked as a librarian. Here is one of the most recent.

A couple of weeks before this writing, as we were leaving our church after the service, I heard someone shouting, “Mrs. Kan! Mrs. Kan!” I turned, and a tall boy came running down the path from the building. He was one of my former students when I was a school librarian. I hadn’t seen him since May 2019. He was one of the quiet ones, always drawing, borrowing books, not saying much. I always looked out for him, to make sure he was feeling comfortable and that he was always welcome in the library. That Sunday he told me how much he missed me, and the library. Then he proudly told me, “I can drive now!”

He has a younger brother, who was not the best student, but did enjoy coming to the school library and always borrowed books to read for fun. This past Sunday, I spoke to their mother; she’s been attending services at our church for about a month now. She told me that her younger son has connected with some of his classmates and former classmates, and they have their own Zoom book club! She told me “It’s all because of you. You helped them to love reading.” She’s clearly proud of her sons, but gave me credit for them becoming readers. I nearly cried.

I work in a public library now, and my department answers our county’s Citizen Information Line to help people with questions about getting tested for COVID-19, registering for vaccinations, and so on. Here, people must register and make appointments for the free COVID-19 tests at the county’s contracted clinic; the website is clunky and rather difficult for most people to navigate. There is no direct way to contact the clinic or the company that designed the website, so we get those calls. Sometimes callers reach us after trying for hours to find information. When I answer the line, I try to be as helpful and comforting as I can be.

Today, I helped a woman who called our line three times (I helped her twice). I stayed on the line with her as she negotiated the website and finally succeeded in setting up appointments for herself and her husband. At the end of the third call, she said, “I don’t know your name, but if I could, I’d give you the biggest hug! You people (meaning my department) are the only ones giving us good information and help! Thank you, we appreciate you so much!” So, helping connect people to books, and helping people get the information they need to help themselves in this pandemic are two aspects of being a librarian. In both cases, just knowing I helped in any small way makes me feel as though I’m doing my part to help the world be a better place.

Gwen Vanderhage: “Cultural Exchange”

One of my most rewarding experiences as a public librarian was helping a population of Eritrean refugees who frequented my branch. The children were voracious readers and consumers of American pop culture. It was fun to help them find books and videos — they always had very specific opinions about what icons they were searching for and authors they were reading, but not always the ones we had on the shelf that day. The parents wanted help navigating and printing forms from government websites and getting matched up with computer tutors. They helped us keep our foreign film collection up to date. These families truly emulated why the library is a hub in every community and we were happy to get to know them each evening.

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Everyone needs encouragement. Hopefully our librarians have helped you feel better about your own work on the frontlines. If we’ve inspired you in any way, we encourage you to share your story.

What’s one of your most-affirming experiences as a librarian? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

10 Deadlines Only a Librarian Would Understand

Image by Cartoon Resource

 

For librarians, deadlines invite a special chance to embrace the sometimes absurd—but always rewarding—task of meeting patrons’ unique and changing needs.

Here are 10 deadlines that only a librarian can fully understand.

 

1. Buy $100,000 worth of books in three days—but only titles NOT available in the U.S.

Spanish Language Selector Nerissa Moran: “My funniest book deadline would be buying at the book fair in Guadalajara. Talk about a rush order!”

 

2. Become a master on The Masters as fast as humanly possible.

Richard Hallman, M.Ln.: “Way back when I was a news librarian, we had many deadline requests.” Here’s one Richard remembers well: “Find out everything you can, as fast as you can, about everyone who’s a member of Augusta National Golf Club, AKA ‘The Masters’ golf club.”

 

3. Order at least 1,000 books per day.

Fern Hallman, M.Ln.: “This was back in the day, before Bibz and the World Wide Web (1988), ordering an average of 1,000 books per day for new library branches in Atlanta.”

 

4. Give children a library tour of a building you’re completely unfamiliar with.

Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS: “The only crazy deadline I have faced would be: Show up as a substitute librarian at a branch and find out I need to take school kids on a tour in half an hour—but I’ve never been in this building before!”

 

5. Set up a camera to welcome students to school on live TV—with NO prior experience.

Suzanne Hawley, MLS: “I was hired to open a new school… My attention was solely focused on unpacking and organizing the collection on the new shelves, as well as managing the set-up of computers in the library… The principal mentioned to me that I would also oversee a TV studio. Late on the Friday before the first week of school, she told me she expected to welcome students live on TV for their first day. I Had NO idea how to operate ANYTHING in a TV studio. Wearily, I unpacked the camera and tried, without luck, to figure out how it sent signals to the classrooms. Never underestimate a librarian! The principal was seen on the TVs in every classroom at 9 a.m. the first day of school.”

 

6. Find a way to wheel a TV downstairs for a group of toddlers—while the elevators are down.

There is no limit to the lengths to which a librarian will go to help little ones gain a literary edge. Desperate times sometimes call for creativity. Luckily, librarian ingenuity often strikes at the eleventh hour. Never bet against a librarian under pressure.

 

7. Find 26 wine corks and make a pumpkin out of them. Post-haste.

Autumn opens the door to all kinds of unique opportunities for librarians. And that means unique challenges. Programs like Wine-Cork Pumpkin Making provide a chance to feature special activities for adults, giving them a new excuse to visit the library.

 

8. Get told you have to create an escape room in time for the library’s grand reopening—and on a shoestring budget.

Escape rooms challenge those within to use problem-solving skills and sometimes motor skills to successfully unlock a door and emerge with a sense of accomplishment. Such a program, with adult supervision provided, could benefit library goers. Organizing the event, though? That’s a different challenge altogether!

 

9. Learn everything you can about ska, starting yesterday.

Maybe a fellow librarian was going to lead a program on ska featuring instruments the young attendees could make themselves. Unfortunately, she’s come down with a nasty bug and asked you to fill in. So you dive in and get to work. Librarians are masters of the impossible.

 

10. Dress up as a children’s book character when the person scheduled to play that character suddenly cancels.

There’s a unique adrenaline that comes with undertaking such a substantial feat with little to no prep time. But nothing beats putting a smile on someone else’s face or eliciting giggles.

 

This is just a sampling of the quirky obstacles librarians often face. Odds are, you have your own fun anecdote about a library deadline no one else would understand. We hope some of these have brought a smile to your face. Remember, you’re not alone!

Books in the Family

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

“Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness.” ~ Anni Albers

In some families, there runs a thread of common traits, common interests, or particular talent. We see it with athletes like the Manning family, political dynasties, or some of the legendary acting families like the Barrymores. There are also family partnerships and dynasties in the world of children’s picture books. Three of the most successful picture book families happen to be African American and mixed. These are families who contribute mightily to the diversity shelves with their personal and universal stories.

Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers

Image credit: wbur.org

Walter Dean Myers is best known for his gripping teen novels exploring African American identity and urban life, as well as his powerful historical novels and biographies. He also authored many picture books. Christopher Myers, his son, was immersed in the craft of publishing from an early age and always dreamed of illustrating his father’s books. Before he was a teenager, Christopher began winning art contests and even had his art published in a children’s magazine. The two became collaborators when Christopher Myers was in college; he received a 1998 Caldecott Honor for their first picture book together, “Harlem.” Ultimately, the two would collaborate on five picture books, all of them featuring poetry written by Walter Dean Myers. Christopher Myers illustrated several of his father’s novels, as well.

Image credit: scholastic.com

Both illustrators brought exceptional talent and detail to their books. What’s more, they took immense pride in each other’s work and had real affection for each other, which is immediately obvious in reading interviews of them, or seeing them in person at book events — as I was lucky enough to do. In his chapter about their family in “Pass It Down,” Leonard Marcus writes about how both of them were worried about letting the other down in their collaborations. Christopher held his father’s writing in high regard, while Walter had great respect for his son’s art and never wanted him to feel judged when they worked together.

Since Walter Dean Myers’ death in 2014, Christopher Myers has been an outspoken advocate for the need to see diverse people and viewpoints in publishing. He is the creative director of the Make Me a World imprint at Random House, which published its first books this fall, to great acclaim. He has also been an ambassador of his father’s legacy. In his acceptance speech for his father’s Children’s Literature Legacy Award (American Library Association, 2019), he said:

You told us about young people like you were, ambitious and fearful, guarded and loving, intimidated and brave. Mixed-up and beautiful. You told me that the reward of a story was in the growth of a character, that no one cared about superheroes unless they had a weakness, a vulnerability that was a strength. That is what every child, in classrooms and prisons, riding subways or walking through cornfields, recognizes in these books you’d written and themselves. Kids who have been painted with masks, like thug or good-for-nothing, threat or fear; first you saw in them, yourself, and then articulated all that vulnerability, lightness, sweetness, and love.

This family that speaks to the importance of seeking out stories and voices, and telling your own, has made the Myers legacy one for all readers.

Donald Crews, Ann Jonas, and Nina Crews

Image credit: nccil.org

Donald Crews and Ann Jonas met at art school in the 1950s and shared careers and family from then on. In the 1960s, the two found most of their work in jacket design for books, before Donald published his first picture book, “We Read: A to Z.” It wasn’t until after Crews received a Caldecott Honor for his now-classic “Freight Train” that Ann began publishing ground-breaking picture books of her own. She was inspired by her two daughters, Nina and Amy, and included them as characters or models in most of her books. Nina Crews, now an adult and celebrated picture book maker in her own right, remembers being around her parents’ art and supplies all her life. In their family, creativity was celebrated in everything they did. They visited museums often, Ann made her daughters’ clothes, and the parents built their children toys like a play kitchen and dollhouse. This environment allowed for freedom of experimentation, and while Nina has followed in her parents’ footsteps, her artistic style is entirely her own. Nina Crews’ work mixes photography and collage, and features her father and her sister’s children as models.

The Pinkney Family

Image credit: hbook.com

Jerry Pinkney is one of the most celebrated American children’s illustrators working today. He won the 2010 Caldecott Medal for his interpretation of Aesop’s “The Lion and the Mouse” and has won numerous Caldecott honors, Coretta Scott King awards, and lifetime achievement awards from those same bodies, in addition to awards and honors outside of the American Library Association. Working from his home studio, Jerry Pinkney has spent a lifetime sharing his art with his family. His wife, Gloria Pinkney, was a milliner, silversmith, and storyteller before becoming an author. Together, they strove to fill their home with inspiration — common areas full of art supplies, dance and drama classes, and no television. The children made toys out of balsa wood or pipe cleaners; they dressed up in costumes and modeled for their father’s paintings. Eventually, all of the Pinkneys’ four children became artists in different disciplines.

Brian Pinkney was the most interested in his father’s artistic process and wanted to do whatever his father was doing. Brian published his first picture book in 1983, just after graduating college. While he was finding work as an illustrator, Brian was dissatisfied with painting and started working with scratchboard drawing. Over the years, his own style has become more recognizable and different from his father’s. He has written picture books of his own, while mainly illustrating the words of others. He has his own shelf of medals, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards and two Caldecott honors.

Gloria Jean has gone on to author her own picture books, most of them illustrated by her husband or sons Brian and Myles.

Myles Pinkney is a photographer who has contributed to books by his mother and has collaborated on picture books with his wife, Sandra L. Pinkney. Their book “Shades of Black” won an NAACP Image Award.

Andrea Davis Pinkney is a best-selling and award-winning author who married into the Pinkney family. She has received Coretta Scott King Author Awards and authored the books for which her husband, Brian Pinkney, earned Caldecott honors. The two have collaborated on 20 children’s books, in addition to their own critically-acclaimed projects.

Image credit: simonandschuster.com

The third generation of Pinkney artists is beginning to make their way in the publishing world this year. Granddaughter Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (daughter of Myles and Sandra) has her first book out in January 2020. In “Just Like a Mama,” Charnelle illustrates a text by Alice Faye Duncan. Charnelle’s art can be found on Instagram, where she has also been featuring her textile prints and designs @callmechartreuse.

Family talents and values really do make a lasting impact. My own family features several generations of teachers and readers. I know that my childhood experiences — from my mom reading aloud, to library trips when staying with my grandmother, and the crates of new books my reading specialist aunt would drive over to share — these all made a critical impact on the children’s librarian I am today. Do you have a family passion or talent passed on to you? Tell us about it in the comments.

Sources:

“2019 Children’s Literature Legacy Award Acceptance by Christopher Myers on Behalf of Walter Dean Myers” — Horn Book, June 24, 2019

Pass It Down: Five Picture-Book Families Make Their Mark — by Leonard S. Marcus

“The Pinkney Family: In the Tradition” — Horn Book, January 10, 1996

“The Pinkneys are a Picture Book Perfect, Author-Illustrator Couple” — NPR, August 11, 2019

Seeing Into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright — written by Richard Wright and illustrated by Nina Crews

“A Visit with Charnelle Pinkney Barlow” — Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, September 30, 2019

 

Gwen

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

September is Literacy Month

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

As librarians, literacy is something close to our hearts. We are readers, searchers, and devourers of facts. As information becomes easier to access but more complicated to manage, there are now many different kinds of literacy we can help our patrons navigate.

Early Literacy is a topic we know a lot about. Library storytimes, summer reading programs, and board book collections for babies all support early literacy. As a nation, we have recognized the importance of getting children ready to read and love books by 3^rd grade. Some libraries deliver books to new mothers in hospital. Most libraries develop programming to model early literacy support skills to parents, using the Every Child Ready to Read practices of Read, Write, Talk, Sing, and Play. Many librarians travel to rural areas on bookmobiles, read to children in community centers and laundromats, and even bring library card sign-ups to the entire school district. (Remember: September is Library Card Sign-Up Month too, hooray!)

This month, encourage parents to check out extra books and take extra time to read with their children. Modeling reading and having conversations about what we’ve read together is the very best way to build a foundation for lifelong literacy.

While librarians spend a lot time and resources developing programs for children, literacy is also about struggling adult readers whom we help at the reference desk with reading maps and forms, and filling out resumes and government applications. One in five adult Americans have low literacy skills, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This includes adults who are unable to compare and contrast information, paraphrase, or make low-level inferences from reading, in addition to those who are completely or functionally illiterate. Low literacy affects the ability to read medical instructions and prescriptions, help children with homework, evaluate news sources, and especially navigate the internet. Does your library have a collection for low-level adult readers?

Did you know that since 1967, UNESCO has honored September 8 as International Literacy Day? The goal is to remind world leaders and influencers that literacy is an integral element in eradicating injustice and poverty.

While learning the basics of reading is the foundation of literacy, librarians and the community have increasingly been talking about other kinds of literacy, as well.

Food Literacy is all about understanding the impact of your food choices on your health, your environment, and the economy. With wider conversations about organics, GMOs, and sustainable farming practices, people are becoming more engaged with learning about where their food comes from. It was all over the news last month that United Nations scientists recommend switching to a plant-based diet to fight climate change, but how can we do that? Fad diets and news about the “microbiome” spur research to compare and contrast different ways of eating. Families getting by on small budgets and government assistance need help finding the best ways to eat healthfully on a budget. All of these issues, plus the bare basics of how to cook, are parts of food literacy that our library collections and programs can address. (September is Food Literacy Month, too!)

The Free Library of Philadelphia supports an amazing Culinary Literacy Center, offering collections and classes to share food literacy with its patrons, young and old. Many public libraries are offering programs on square-foot gardening, cooking with the Instapot, international foods, and even cookbook reading groups. Cooking and eating crosses divides and has been a way to bring diverse communities together, even in the library. For more information about food literacy, and to access a Food Literacy Month toolkit, check out the Food Literacy Center, supported by UC Davis, California.

Health Literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Health literacy is much more difficult to attain, including complex words and concepts, in addition to numerical data and manipulation. Only 12% of American adults have proficient health literacy, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While it is mainly up to health professionals and organizations to utilize plain language in their materials and translations, libraries can help in some ways. In addition to promoting books and pamphlets about health topics, librarians can keep web bookmarks handy and create links on the library website. Many public libraries offer health programs and speakers. (October is Health Literacy Month.)

The Public Library Association has launched an initiative with the website “Healthy Community Tools for Public Libraries,” with a lot of helpful information for libraries to implement. There is also free, archived access to the recent excellent webinar, “Health Literacy Begins at Your Library,” from Web Junction, which showcases experiences from Oklahoma libraries.

What other literacy competencies are you talking about and implementing in your library collections and programs? Digital literacy? Media literacy? Tell us about it!

 

Sources:

When a Laundromat Becomes a Library, PBS News Hour, April 2, 2019.

Every Child Ready to Read, a joint project by the Public Library Association and the Association of Library Service to Children

National Assessment of Adult Literacy

UNESCO International Literacy Day

“Plant-Based Diet Can Fight Climate Change – UN,” BBC News, August 8, 2019.

 

Gwen

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

 

Podcasts About Books for Kids and Teens

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

  

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Pod·cast (ˈpädˌkast)

Noun: A digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.

Verb: To make (a digital audio file) available as a podcast.

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I am an avid podcast listener, yet until last year, when I explored the topic of library podcasts for this blog, I had not thought to seek out podcasts about literature or the business of librarianship. That previous post has been popular with our readers, so maybe you had not taken much time to seek out librarian shows, either. Tell me, have these podcasts inspired you? Have you found new library podcasts you love?

Since I spend my time reading and working with books for kids and teens, this year I have been listening to podcasts that feature topics, trends, and authors in young people’s literature. I don’t think I’m alone. There are some great ones out there for librarians, families, authors, and readers who appreciate the art and craft of writing for young people. At the ALA Annual Conference this past June, in Washington, D.C., the Pop-Top Stage in the exhibit hall featured live recordings of two different podcasts, both featuring BIG NAME authors for kids.

The first live podcast recording I attended was for a Dewey Decibel podcast from the ALA’s American Libraries magazine. The host, Phil Morehart, Senior Editor at American Libraries, led a panel discussion about the history, influence, and resonance of the Coretta Scott King book awards, as this award celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year. The panel featured past King winners and prominent African American authors and illustrators Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, Christopher Myers, and Ekua Holmes.

While the Dewey Decibel podcast normally features topics from across the world of libraries, it was relevant to me to sit in on a discussion on the influence of children’s literature in the lives of young people, the importance for children to see themselves in books and pictures, and to experience the warmth and sense of family a community of book makers have when they sit down together. It was a wonderful experience that I think translates across the airwaves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The second podcast recorded at ALA Annual was The Children’s Book Podcast, hosted by Matthew C. Winner, a school librarian in Maryland. He was joined by a panel of popular children’s book authors: Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale, and Cece Bell. These authors discussed humor in their books, relating to a child audience, and how their books provide a sense of “home” to young readers. The Children’s Book Podcast regularly hosts children’s book authors reading from and talking about their work. Host Winner is a fan of graphic novels and regularly includes graphic novel creators discussing their work, along with authors and illustrators of traditional formats.

Matthew Winner, host of The Children’s Book Podcast, is also the co-host of a new podcast, along with author Karina Yan Glaser (“The Vanderbeekers of 141^st Street,” also a contributing editor to Book Riot), called Kidlit These Days, from Book Riot. Their podcast focuses on current topics in publishing, the news, and how authors and librarians can help children respond to them through literature. Each podcast pairs books with the show’s respective topic. The first episode featured the response from Latinx authors to teachers in Idaho who dressed up as the Border Wall for Halloween. Other episodes have included a children’s author who talks with kids about her hijab, problems around soft censorship, and how to use historic artifacts with kids. One thing I like about this podcast is that it highlights older books that work well in discussion with children and families, as well as new books. This aspect would also help librarians with lists and displays. The co-host format with one of my favorite authors is especially engaging.

Other terrific podcasts I have been listening to include:

kidlit women* podcast — hosted by acclaimed author/illustrator Grace Lin, who pulls together interviews with female children’s book authors talking about their careers and experiences

Read-Aloud Revival Podcast — celebrates the connections reading together can build in families; features topical book lists and is popular with homeschooling families

Dream Gardens — features authors talking about the books they love and loved as kids

Picturebooking — showcases the authors and illustrators of current picture books

The Yarn — delves deep into the process of book creation with bloggers Travis Jonker and Colby Sharp

Books Between — features book reviews and author interviews with a focus on the 8-12 age group, or “middle grade” readers

Hey, YA — Young Adult podcast from Book Riot featuring banter and insider buzz, as well as book reviews and lists of forthcoming Young Adult books

If you would like to sample any of the podcasts I have featured, they should be available to stream or download through the search feature in your favorite podcasting app (Stitcher, Downcast, Overcast, etc.), or iTunes. You can also click through the links here and listen online.

What youth literature podcasts or library podcasts do you enjoy? Are there others I should check out?

 

Gwen

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

 

Attending to the Forgotten: Welcoming Homeless Children into the Fold

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

Public libraries are very familiar with our country’s homeless population. From small libraries with a handful of regulars, to large libraries with a crowd assembling outside at opening time, most of us service at least some homeless patrons. The current economy and nationwide housing crisis have simply made it harder for families to find places they can afford to live. As a result, the difficult reality facing homeless adult patrons has become a regular part of public library discourse. The movie “The Public,” by Emilio Estevez, which was released last month (after being screened for librarians at last year’s ALA Annual Conference and this year’s Midwinter), has helped to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness in connection with libraries.

But homelessness often hits kids even harder than adults. Over the last decade, the number of homeless children and teens has grown exponentially. One-third of the homeless population is now comprised of children, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This population is less visible in the library, since kids are often in school during the day. But they are an important group of people, nonetheless, that are using and benefiting from public library services.

Removing barriers for families that deter them from using the public library is important as we librarians become some of the best partners to help the children of homelessness succeed. Can your library waive the physical address requirement for homeless patrons seeking to acquire a library card? Does your library offer fine forgiveness? Many public libraries are moving to remove fines altogether, whether from children’s materials and cards, or from all materials and cards. When children are unable to control their own transportation to and from the library, fines on materials create a huge barrier to checking out homework materials or books for escapist pleasure reading.

While public schools provide meals and a safe place for children during the day, the stresses of being homeless and the inherent lack of stability impact their academic achievement. Homeless children have higher rates of absenteeism and tend to change schools more frequently. Their literacy and graduation rates are lower than those of their peers. The growing digital divide is yet another problem plaguing these children and other low-income students. While internet access is more available via cheaper phones, it’s hard to do homework research on a phone. Libraries provide materials for homework, computer access, and a safe, warm place after school and on weekends. Some libraries partner with their local school district to provide free lunches during the summer.

For many years, librarians have partnered with day shelters to provide outreach services and materials for homeless families. Librarians from Queens, New York, to Cleveland and Seattle, share storytimes with kids in shelters. When I was a children’s librarian in Denver, Colorado, I was one of them. I held a weekly storytime for the kids at a nearby women’s and children’s shelter during computer training for mothers. The preschoolers in this group were eager to hear stories, sing songs, and particularly loved to interact with puppets and pop-up books. It was not just a time for the children to learn those storytime skills of active listening and learning vocabulary, but also a time when a grown-up would talk with them and listen to them. As we librarians became more nimble with Every Child Ready to Read practices, we also began to include the mothers, hoping to pass on some of those skills to help parents be a child’s first teacher. Parents under the stress of homelessness are likely not thinking about speaking 30,000 words to their child each day. Anything librarians can do to model the behaviors of reading signs, singing together, and telling stories about what you’re doing will help demonstrate that the foundations of reading readiness are easy to incorporate.

Does your library offer unique services and programs open to, or particularly for, homeless youth and their families? A recent article from School Library Journal, “Almost Home: How Public Libraries Serve Homeless Teenagers,” outlined many efforts aimed to get homeless teens into the library, engage them with programs, and pair them with services. If your area offers services particularly tailored for teens, consider forming a partnership with them. Offering donuts and board games during a time that a social worker can come and help teens is a great way to open the door.

We spend a great deal of energy encouraging people to come in when their children are tots. We are always wondering how to keep the kids coming in to the library until they become adult library advocates. Why not apply that same principle to children who happen not to have a home? Homeless patrons simply represent another subset of our community, albeit one with a particular set of needs and challenges. Providing whatever aid we can and a welcoming place during hard times is a wonderful way to grow lifelong library lovers. Isn’t this one of our primary goals as librarians?

Other resources:

“Library Service to Homeless Youth and Families,” Vikki C. Terrile, IFLA

“Homelessness: A State of Emergency,” The Seattle Public Library

 

Gwen

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.

 

The Caldecott Committee – A View from the Inside

By Gwen Vanderhage, MLIS

Me?  On the Caldecott Committee?! What a dream come true! Throughout 2018, I had the honor of serving on the American Library Association’s Caldecott Medal selection committee. While teachers, librarians, aunts, and the pharmacist all have said to me, “I always wanted to do that!” few know very much about the nuts and bolts of how the Caldecott Committee chooses a winner.

Hello Lighthouse, illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall

Let’s start at the beginning. The Caldecott Award honors the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children of any given year. The winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal is “Hello Lighthouse,” which Sophie Blackall both wrote and illustrated. That’s a quick summary of a year-long effort, but there’s much more to tell. What follows is an insider’s perspective on the experience, which for me was nothing short of transformative.

Serving on one of the ALA’s book award committees is usually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if even that. “What is it like?” People ask. “I’ll bet you get a lot of books!” To start, yes, I did get a lot of books. By the fall, the busiest time in the publishing year, my doorbell was ringing every single day with deliveries of picture books. The publishers send out what they want the committee to see, which this year was close to 1,000 picture books. It is also up to committee members to be aware of other picture books that are receiving positive reviews, word of mouth recommendations, or books that may not have been sent out by publishers, and then track those down and look at them, too. It is a LOT of books!

How does the committee read and evaluate the books? What are we looking for? Page 12 of the Caldecott Manual (available in its entirety here), lists many criteria and definitions. I don’t have room today for all of those, but will say the illustrator must be an American citizen or resident of the United States and the book must be published by an American publisher. The following are the major criteria, as cited by the manual:

In identifying a “distinguished American picture book for children,” defined as illustration, committee members need to consider:

• Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed;
• Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept;
• Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept;
• Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures;
• Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.

With these criteria in mind, the 15 committee members carefully read, re-read, and take notes on the books. During the year, members send around suggestions of titles to examine more closely. The formal suggestion process helps build support for stronger titles and helps members identify strengths and weaknesses in books they liked or did not appreciate as much.

Figuring out how to identify strengths and weakness and articulate them early on is one of the most valuable parts of being part of this kind of group. As readers, we are practiced at talking about language and storytelling.  Learning artistic terms and techniques and expressing how art works in storytelling was a new, challenging skill to develop.  Saying “I like the colors” isn’t enough. Why? How do the colors assist in conveying emotion or telling the story? “I don’t like this style.” Why? What about it is weak to me? To build a strong case for a book I loved, I needed to be able to articulate the way the art affects the reading experience.

In the fall, each committee member nominates seven titles total: three titles in October, two in November, and two titles in December for the ALA Midwinter conference meeting, where these books are discussed and voted upon until a winner emerges. Out in Libraryland this year, people have been asking the question, “Why don’t the Newbery and Caldecott committees release a short list of considered titles, the way the National Book Award or some YALSA prizes do?” While there are a variety of answers to this complicated question, one is because the current process allows each of the 15 committee members to nominate seven books. While some titles could receive multiple nominations from within the committee, it is also possible there could be no crossover and 105 titles could, theoretically, be nominated. That is not a short list!

When I arrived at the Midwinter conference in Seattle, I came ready to discuss, celebrate, defend, and have an open mind about all the titles committee members deemed distinguished this year. There were so many wonderful books! My favorite part of discussion is the moment when someone else’s argument for a book completely wins me over when it had not been one I appreciated before. That is why 15 different people, voices, experiences, and viewpoints come together to evaluate great books, and why we sometimes come to surprising conclusions. Working with this group created a new family; one that has had disagreements, shared appreciation and emotion, and has come together with mutual respect. One of my committee members lamented, “If only every problem in the world could be tackled by sitting down for two solid days of respectful and open communication!”

The committee has the freedom to choose as few or many honor books as it pleases; the criteria for that are not set in stone, though the process is outlined in the manual. Our committee chose four honor books, shown below.

Alma and How She Got Her Name, illustrated and written by Juana Martinez-Neal

A Big Mooncake for Little Star, illustrated and written by Grace Lin

The Rough Patch, illustrated and written by Brian Lies

Thank you, Omu!, illustrated and written by Oge Mora

The actual discussion details are completely confidential. That is a really hard thing. Of course I, and the other members, would love to tell you all about how we chose our winner and four honor books. We would love to tell you about the books we loved that did not make that list, or the books you loved and whether we discussed them. But we can’t. As individuals, we are now allowed to say, “Oh! I love that book!” about any book we please, as long as we don’t discuss the committee process. Just like me, you are free to continue to champion your favorite books to the readers you see every day. That is the wonderful thing about books, Caldecott medal or no.

Finally, “What do you do on announcement day?” Our committee met at 5:50 a.m., to call the winners. We gathered as a big group in a tiny cubicle around one speakerphone. We called Sophie Blackall, traveling in Burma; Juana Martinez Neal, traveling in the Amazon; Grace Lin and Oge Mora, at home; and Brian Lies, who was at the gym and did not get the call. While we would have loved to talk to Brian, reading about his reaction to his surprise honor when he saw it on the live stream with the rest of the world makes for a pretty good story. Then we all trooped together to the announcement ceremony and cheered on the other ALA Youth Media award winners and applauded our wonderful books. One of our members made very silly lighthouse hats, which we wore with glee.

This year, following my service on the Caldecott committee, I will likely scour the internet for fun interviews with the illustrators who have become my favorites. I will look forward to meeting them at the ALA Annual conference, where the medals are given out at a big banquet. I will read fewer, and longer, books. I will be looking back this year, and every year, on this amazing experience and the things I learned from the books I read and the committee members who changed my viewpoint. What a gift!

Gwen

After spending many years as a children’s librarian and collection development specialist at Denver Public Library, Gwen joined Brodart to share her passion for children’s literature with as many different libraries as possible. Click here for more.