The Demand for Diversity

 This week's alerts were slim pickings... seems like there was other news bigger than diversity in children's literature on everyone's minds. Ha ha! Despite all the other news going on in the world, one article did pique my interest. The article titled, "High demand for diversity in children's literature" was published by Iowa State Daily on November 1, 2020 and was updated on November 2, 2020. Written by Natanga Safi the article highlights much of what has been said in most of the published work I've reviewed... students need to see themselves in text to connect as a reader, lack of representation is underscored by lack of minority authors and limited minority authors actually being published. However, this is the first article that identifies how teacher preparation programs are beginning to address these issues. According to the article, literature courses at Iowa State are beginning to highlight the importance of the "windows, mirrors, sliding glass door" concept first coined by Rudine Sims Bishop. This was the first I had heard of this term, so to investigate further I clicked on the links included in the article. 

The first link I explored brought me to an article titled, "Windows and Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors: Ensuring Students See Themselves and Others in Literature" posted on the website Institute for Humane Education. Guest blogger Cathy Porter shares Dr. Bishop's work in underscoring the point that it’s crucial for children from marginalized groups to view themselves in the books they read.  Citing Bishop's essay, Porter shares, "When books don’t serve as mirrors to children", Bishop says, “They learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in society. In addition to acting as mirrors, books can also serve as windows that give readers a glimpse into the lives and experiences of others."

While understanding the numbers associated with how little diversity is represented in children's literature and knowing innately the need, the metaphor of Bishop's Windows, Mirrors, and Glass Doors really highlights how necessary it is to have representation of all students available amongst our library collections. 

The final resource that I will use in my role as a librarian was linked within Porter article. The article shares five resources for educators, including tips for teachers and librarians for not only building diverse library collections but promoting those materials so that all students can use those materials as windows, mirrors, and glass doors.