The tendency in the children’s book publishing industry to cater to white children is not new and there have been calls for change for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Columbia, public school librarians are working to provide diverse book collections so that minority students feel reflected in literature. Librarians also want white students, who comprise 62 percent of the student body in Columbia Public Schools, to see backgrounds different from their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nationally, activist groups are speaking out against industry bias and hoping to make widespread change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local initiative<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nKerry Townsend, media specialist coordinator for the Columbia district, said that this year, as part of a larger district initiative to address the needs of all students, school librarians have focused on providing a more diverse book collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Townsend said administrators recently participated in a book study of Robert Putnam’s 2015 \u201cOur Kids,” which looks at the growing “opportunity gap” among children in the U.S. She said that after reading the book, she felt she could help the initiative by encouraging librarians to provide stories for and about children who are not from a white, upper-middle class background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe practical reason we are doing this is because we want our students to read,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re more likely to pick a book up if they can find something that speaks to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that sense, books are mirrors. But it’s also important that they be windows. Sarah Easley, the librarian at West Boulevard Elementary School, said it\u2019s important to keep both in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think everyone benefits from both being able to see themselves in a character and to be able to identify with a character that is totally different from them,\u201d Easley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smithton Middle School librarian Anthony Strand agrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA book puts you inside someone else\u2019s head,\u201d Strand said. \u201cSubconsciously, I think that helps you understand their perspective, and I think that makes for more empathetic people in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Problems in publishing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut barriers in the publishing industry are making it difficult for readers and librarians to find diverse books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorelei Donaldson, the librarian at Blue Ridge Elementary School, thinks it\u2019s important for children to envision minority faces in literature’s leading roles, which might translate into more prosocial behavior. She wants to provide books with a wide range of characters for her students, but she doesn\u2019t have a lot of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at kids’ books that are published, the vast majority are either animals or white, middle-class kids,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to find a good-quality, authentic book that would maybe reflect other experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her frustration with a lack of diversity is not new. More than 50 years ago, in a 1965 article in the Saturday Review<\/a>, Nancy Larrick criticized the mainly white landscape of children’s literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n“Integration may be the law of the land, but most of the books children see are all white,” wrote Larrick, founder of the International Reading Association. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larrick had sampled more than 5,000 children’s books and found that 6.7 percent included black characters. By comparison, the Cooperative Children\u2019s Book Center found that last year, just 7.8 percent of children\u2019s book characters were black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere seems little chance of developing the humility so urgently needed for world cooperation, instead of world conflict, as long as our children are brought up on gentle doses of racism through their books,\u201d Larrick wrote back in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, national campaigns to change the children\u2019s book publishing industry have called attention to the lack of minority representation in books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January, Scholastic Publishing stopped distributing<\/a> \u201cA Birthday Cake for George Washington\u201d after an online backlash. The book was about George Washington\u2019s household slaves, who were depicted as joyous and smiling, prepping for the president\u2019s birthday celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWithout more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn,\u201d a statement from Scholastic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement also said the company is committed to providing diverse literature. As a response, an online petition<\/a> organized in February by American Indians in Children\u2019s Literature, the Ferguson Response Network and Teaching for Change quoted Scholastic\u2019s statement and called for the company to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe are glad that Scholastic recalled the #SlaveryWithaSmile book and has published a few new middle school titles by and about people of color and Native Americans, but there is much more to be done,\u201d the petition said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But barriers in the publishing industry are making it difficult for readers and librarians to find diverse books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorelei Donaldson, the librarian at Blue Ridge Elementary School, thinks it\u2019s important for children to envision minority faces in literature’s leading roles, which might translate into more prosocial behavior. She wants to provide books with a wide range of characters for her students, but she doesn\u2019t have a lot of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at kids’ books that are published, the vast majority are either animals or white, middle-class kids,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to find a good-quality, authentic book that would maybe reflect other experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her frustration with a lack of diversity is not new. More than 50 years ago, in a 1965 article in the Saturday Review<\/a>, Nancy Larrick criticized the mainly white landscape of children’s literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Integration may be the law of the land, but most of the books children see are all white,” wrote Larrick, founder of the International Reading Association. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Larrick had sampled more than 5,000 children’s books and found that 6.7 percent included black characters. By comparison, the Cooperative Children\u2019s Book Center found that last year, just 7.8 percent of children\u2019s book characters were black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere seems little chance of developing the humility so urgently needed for world cooperation, instead of world conflict, as long as our children are brought up on gentle doses of racism through their books,\u201d Larrick wrote back in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, national campaigns to change the children\u2019s book publishing industry have called attention to the lack of minority representation in books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In January, Scholastic Publishing stopped distributing<\/a> \u201cA Birthday Cake for George Washington\u201d after an online backlash. The book was about George Washington\u2019s household slaves, who were depicted as joyous and smiling, prepping for the president\u2019s birthday celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn,\u201d a statement from Scholastic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statement also said the company is committed to providing diverse literature. As a response, an online petition<\/a> organized in February by American Indians in Children\u2019s Literature, the Ferguson Response Network and Teaching for Change quoted Scholastic\u2019s statement and called for the company to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are glad that Scholastic recalled the #SlaveryWithaSmile book and has published a few new middle school titles by and about people of color and Native Americans, but there is much more to be done,\u201d the petition said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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