Libraries are welcoming spaces for families. Children’s staff are devoted to the literacy process and fostering a love of reading. But even with the best of intentions, libraries may fall short of being the diverse and inclusive place they seek to be. Striving to improve on this is a goal all libraries should have.
When talking about “diversity” and “inclusion,” it is important to remember that the two words are not interchangeable. Diversity is a group of people who are different from each other in some way. One individual person does not represent diversity alone. Inclusion happens when we invite and include different (diverse) groups of people to participate. Diversity is inherent, while inclusion is an intentional action.
The best place to start when looking to become more inclusive is to get to know your community. Look at who is coming to your programs. Observe who is using your library to check out materials, to study, to play. Check what groups are using your meeting room space. This will help you get a better idea of who is already using your library. However, it will not tell you who is not.
Some families that you might not be serving include the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual communities. Families with foster children, with children who are developmentally delayed, or where language is a barrier may also feel like outsiders. Around the world libraries are not always free to use. Families who are new to the United States may not realize the vast, zero-cost, resources that can be found at the local public library.
Immigrants may be unsure of the welcome they will receive at a library or during a program. This can also be said of families with children who are developmentally delayed. Rather than expecting these families to find us and assimilate into the library setting we are comfortable with, libraries need to seek out these families and tweak our services so they are more inclusive.
Trying to learn who is not using your space will give you a chance to reach out to a wider population. Look at the latest census data. See who is attending events in the community. Visit the schools and notice the diversity you see in the classrooms but not in your library. Then look for ways to create a more inclusive atmosphere in your library. This can happen through the programs you offer in the library and in the community. It can also happen through the materials you collect at your library.
There will always be diversity in your school whether it relates to race and ethnicity, identity, or economic status. The school library, therefore, has the opportunity to be an inclusive space that offers kids materials and services that represent who they are and welcomes them in, no matter what they look like or where they are from.
Students will come into your library as part of class visit time, but you will have to pay attention to the kids who are on the outskirts of the group. Is there a reason that certain kids never check out materials unless they have to for a class assignment? Perhaps it is because they are not finding materials with people who look like them on the cover or between the pages of the book. It might also be that kids are afraid of losing a book because their home life is unstable.
The first is easier to correct as you can seek out books that represent all of the kids your school library serves. It can be harder to address the fear of losing a book or the inability to pay for a lost book. One thing you can suggest is that kids check out a book to keep at school. With teacher support, these books can be used for student choice reading during the day. If the book does not leave the school building, there will be less chance of it getting lost or being returned late.
Keep in mind the diversity, or the lack of diversity, of your school when you are creating lessons for classes and choosing books to read to kids at the library. In the fall, not every family celebrates Halloween. A better choice would be to focus on nature-related activities like picking apples and pumpkins rather than dressing up, trick or treating, or carving pumpkins. You may not be able to control the school’s decision, but you can make the school library an inclusive space for all students.
When choosing books to share, you should also make sure that you are reading books that offer diverse representation whether you see your school as being diverse or not. With the younger grades, it can be tempting to read lots of books that have animal characters instead of children. There are lots of great books out there like this and some even touch on diverse topics. However, kids need to see other kids who look like them and who go through similar situations in the stories shared with them. So make sure you include picture books with people of varying skin tones, and when choosing chapter books and fiction books, make sure your diverse choices are not all historical fiction. It makes kids feel included, rather than feeling different or ignored, if they see contemporary kids in stories.
Whether you are in a school or public library, you should be asking yourself these questions when it comes to your collection. Are you purchasing high-quality diverse titles that offer mirrors for the diverse kids and families to discover? What about having titles that represent kids who are different from the majority population who visits your library? Seeing ourselves and seeing others in the books we read is important to kids building their own identity as well as a sense of empathy toward others. It may even make a difference as to when they become a reader.
Librarians absolutely should be promoting diverse books in their community, but what is the best way to accomplish this? I recently had a conversation with a couple of fellow Cuyahoga County Public Library staff members: Wendy Bartlett, collection development and acquisitions manager, and Kate Merlene, adult librarian. We were discussing how to best promote the diverse books in our collection and how to make them discoverable for customers. The exchange turned to whether or not diverse books should be treated like a genre. Should you have labels for African American books in the same way you would mystery books? The answer we came to is no. African American is not a genre and neither is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ). Groups of people should not be placed in the same categories as genres like science fiction or romance.
Instead, diverse books should be included within the genre lists. So, if you are creating a list of fantasy titles for your library or for a teacher, you would make sure to include titles that represent diverse people as a part of the list. By doing this, you are making a conscious decision to be inclusive with your book list. Now your kids and families have a much better chance of finding not only a book in a genre they like but also one with characters that look like or who are relatable to them. This goes beyond just book lists. Diverse titles should be an integral part to all displays and should be used in storytimes and other library programs. However, this is not to say that you cannot have a display of African American interest titles up in your library or create a book list of the Best Diverse Books of the year. Just be thoughtful when choosing the labels you place on the spine of a book or in your library’s catalog.
Publishers have stated in the past that they do not publish as many authors and titles by diverse people because the market does not support it. The good news is that publishers are starting to recognize that if they do not publish diverse books, then people and libraries cannot purchase them. There is still a long way to go, but imprints like Salaam Reads from Simon & Schuster are a step in the right direction.
But it is not just publishers that are resistant to diverse works. Libraries, both school and public, have been known to say that they do not purchase certain diverse titles because they do not represent their community or because the books just sit on the shelf. This may be the case but it does not have to be, and it should not be. Librarians need to be reading diverse books or, at the very least, they should be seeking out reviews and best of lists from trusted sources like School Library Journal or Kirkus. Readers advisory is the first step to getting diverse books off the shelf and into the hands of kids and caregivers.
When talking with families about favorite authors and titles, you must be able to include diversity in your recommendations. You will find book lists throughout this book, and there are diverse books mixed in throughout those lists. This is because I read diverse books. Some of my favorite authors include Jacqueline Woodson, Rita Williams Garcia, Grace Lin, Jason Reynolds, Euka Holmes, and Hena Khan. I recommend and gush about these authors’ books on a frequent basis, and I recommend these authors and their books to white kids too. Think about it, you would not hesitate to recommend a book with a white child to a child of color, would you?
As the sole selector in a large public library, I am looking at reviews every day to help me make purchasing decisions. While that is the focus of my job, it is not for the branch staff that I am sending the books to. The branch staff are dealing with programming, homework help, and feeding kids—among other duties. To help get quality books on staff radar, I write a weekly internal blog called Medal Worthy, which serves as a mock awards platform. I tackle the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz but also the Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpre, and Stonewall Awards. My recommendations get the word out on new diverse titles in the collection. In turn, the youth staff in the branches are talking about and displaying diverse books and it is paying off. Here are just a smattering of diverse titles and a glimpse of how they were circulating at Cuyahoga County Public Library in September 2018.
Applegate, Katherine. Crenshaw. New York, NY: Feiwel and Friends, 2015. 245p. $16.99. 9781250043238.
Own 28 copies—16 copies checked out.
Jackson remembers living out of the family car. When the financial stability of his family is called into question again, his imaginary friend comes back to offer support. (Novel)
Arnold, Elana K. A Boy Called Bat. Illustrated by Charles Santoso. New York, NY: Walden Pond Press, 2017. 198p. (Bat). $16.99. 9780062445827.
Own 13 copies—13 copies checked out.
Bat is autistic and has trouble connecting with other people sometimes. However, he immediately attaches to the baby skunk his mother, a vet, has rescued. (Novel)
Blake, Ashley Herring. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 310p. $16.99. 9780316515467.
Own 3 copies—3 copies checked out—1 hold.
Ivy’s family loses everything in a tornado. As the family sorts out their finances, Ivy worries someone will discover her lost sketching notebook and realize she likes girls. (Novel)
Bunting, Eve. Yard Sale. Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2015. unpaged. $15.99. 9780763665425.
Own 7 copies—4 copies checked out.
A family must sell their belongings in a yard sale and move to an apartment. Their young daughter does not really understand why, other than it is about money. But one thing this family learns is that their love will be with them wherever they live. (Picture Book)
Colato Laí nez, René. Mamá the Alien: Mamá la Extraterrestre. Illustrated by Laura Lacá mara. New York, NY: Children’s Book Press, 2016. unpaged. $17.95. 9780892392988.
Own 5 copies—1 copy checked out.
A child finds her mother’s Resident Alien card and believes her mother is an alien from outer space. Told in English and Spanish, it shows the confusion a word can create and also the steps an immigrant has to go through to become a citizen of the United States. (Picture Book)
Davies, Nicola. The Day War Came. Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2018. unpaged. $16.99. 9781536201734.
Own 4 copies—4 copies checked out.
A refugee’s journey as seen through the eyes of a child. Inspired by the true story of a refugee child not allowed to attend school because the school did not have a chair for her. (Picture Book)
Dillon, Diane. I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t. New York, NY: The Blue Sky Press, 2018. unpaged. $17.99. 9781338166903.
Own 13 copies—9 copies checked out.
When that little negative voice inside a girl’s head starts talking—squash it. Girls can do anything! (Picture Book)
Federle, Tim. Better Nate Than Ever. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013. 275p. (Nate). $16.99. 9781442446892.
Own 18 copies—3 copies checked out.
Nate wants to act in a Broadway show and runs away to New York to make it happen. In this first book, he is only starting to accept he is gay. (Novel)
Gino, Alex. George. New York: Scholastic Press, 2015. 195p. $16.99. 978054 5812542.
Own 8 copies—1 copy checked out.
George knows he is a girl, even if biology does not agree. Now she must find a way to tell her family and her best friend that she is transgender. (Novel)
Gray Smith, Monique. My Heart Fills with Happiness. Illustrated by Julie Flett. Victoria, BC: Orca Book Publishers, 2016. unpaged. $9.95. 9781459809574.
Own 27 copies—8 copies checked out—1 copy reference.
First Nation families celebrate what brings joy between the parents and the child. (Board Book)
Helget, Nicole. End of the Wild. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company, 2017. 266p. $16.99. 9780316245111.
Own 2 copies—2 copies checked out.
A family barely getting by could benefit from the new fracking company, but it comes at a high cost to the woods that bring food, peace, and joy to Fern. (Novel)
Hunt, Lynda Mullaly. Fish in a Tree. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2015. 276p. $16.99. 9780399162596.
Own 13 copies—10 copies checked out.
Ally has done an excellent job of covering up the fact that she has trouble reading until a new teacher discovers she is dyslexic. (Novel)
Leet, Rhonda. Franny’s Father Is a Feminist. Illustrated by Megan Walker. Brooklyn, NY: Pow!, 2018. unpaged. $17.99. 9781576878736.
Own 7 copies—4 copies checked out.
Franny’s father is a stay-at-home dad who supports his daughter’s endeavors, including playing hockey and taking ballet lessons. (Picture Book)
Love, Jessica. Juliá n Is a Mermaid. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2018. unpaged. $16.99. 9780763690458.
Own 3 copies—2 copies checked out.
Julián i s entranced by the women he sees dressed up as mermaids and creates his own costume. His beloved Abuela discovers him in his mermaid dress and supports his creativity. (Picture Book)
Medina, Juana. Juana & Lucas. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2016. 89p. (Juana & Lucas). $14.99. 9780763672089.
Own 10 copies—4 copies checked out.
Juana lives in Bogota, Colombia. She loves her dog, Lucas, but she does not love learning English at school. (Chapter Book)
Newman, Lesléa. Sparkle Boy. Illustrated by Maria Mola. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2017. unpaged. $17.95. 9781620142851.
Own 5 copies—1 copy checked out.
Challenging gender norms, Casey likes to play with trucks and wear sparkly skirts and nail polish. With the support of his family, Casey can express himself as he chooses. (Picture Book)
Peete, Holly Robinson, Ryan Elizabeth Peete, and Denene Millner. My Brother Charlie. Illustrated by Shane Evans. New York: NY: Scholastic Press, 2010. unpaged. $16.99. 9780545094665.
Own 8 copies—2 copies checked out.
Based on the author’s family, Charlie is autistic and his twin sister, Callie, is not. Told from Callie’s perspective, the story shows their differences but also the strong bond between the siblings. (Picture Book)
Perl, Erica S. All Three Stooges. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. 233p. $16.99. 9780399551758.
Own 8 copies—1 copy checked out.
Noah is preparing for his bar mitzvah with his best friend Dash until Dash’s father commits suicide. As the teen boys start to grow apart, Noah worries he may lose his best friend too. (Novel)
Polacco, Patricia. Junkyard Wonders. New York, NY: Philomel Books, 2010. unpaged. $17.99. 9780399250781.
Own 15 copies—5 copies checked out.
With the help of a caring teacher, a group of kids with learning differences are shown just how smart and talented they each are. (Picture Book)
Rosenthal, Amy Krouse, and Paris Rosenthal. Dear Girl. Illustrated by Holly Hatam. New York, NY: Harper, 2017. unpaged. $17.99. 9780062422507.
Own 37 copies—13 copies checked out.
Written as notes to girls that encourage them to be themselves and trust their own instincts. (Picture Book)
Saeed, Aisha. Amal Unbound. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018. 226p. $17.99. 9780399544682.
Own 13 copies—11 copies checked out.
A contemporary novel set in Pakistan that follows the life of a 12-year-old girl who, after insulting a powerful man, must leave home and become a servant for his family. (Novel)
Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia. I Love My Haircut! Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2017 (2002). unpaged. $6.99. 9780316276061.
Own 9 copies—1 checked out.
A young African American boy goes to the barbershop with his father. It’s time for his very first haircut. (Board Book)
Yang, Kelly. Front Desk. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2018. 286p. $16.99. 9781338157796.
Own 13 copies—8 copies checked out.
Mia and her family are immigrants from China living in the United States. They experience the challenges of living among people who speak a language they are only just learning and have customs they are unaware of. (Novel)
The next time you sit down to plan out your programming for the month, the quarter, or the year, take a moment to do a diversity audit. Look at your program plans and notice if you are including diverse books and whether you are offering programs at times that working families can attend. Then take it a step further and look for ways to include additional programs and services that would reach new families in your service area.
I first heard through a post on Facebook about barbers encouraging African American kids to read to them while getting a haircut. I thought it sounded like a great idea and was excited to learn that my library system had been approached to help partner with a local organization to beef up the selection of books the kids could choose from at the barbershops.
Since I was not directly involved in creating the partnership, I sat down with Bonnie Demarchi, a youth branch services supervisor III, to learn more about how the program works at Cuyahoga County Public Library. From Demarchi, I learned that the executive director of the Barbershop Literacy Project, a retired educator, had made encouraging African American males to read her mission.
The director was already working with approximately 20 barbershops in Cleveland and the surrounding outer-ring suburbs when she approached the public library. Up to that point she had been bringing the barbers onboard, negotiating space for small bookcases, and purchasing the books from her own funds. Hoping to provide a wider selection of books for the boys to choose from, she wanted to see if the library would loan out books. A meeting was scheduled with the Barbershop Literacy Project, Cuyahoga County Public Library’s collection development staff, and the branch managers from three locations that had barbershops that were part of her program already. They sat down to discuss logistics.
In order for the partnership to work, there had to be coordination among several departments at the library, including floor staff, circulation staff, collection development staff, and the shipping staff. For a smaller library system, there may be some overlap in these roles, but you need to make sure everyone is looped into the conversation so you do not have any last-minute road blocks.
Breaking it down, floor staff pull together the titles for the deposit collection—around 30–50 per quarter for each location. Mostly this means shopping the branch collection, but the staff can also call in titles from surrounding branches. The collection development team supports the program by ordering extra copies of popular titles like Newbery, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King Honoree, Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James so the barbershops would have them on hand.
The circulation staff checks out the titles for the quarter so there is no need to worry about renewing or holds during the three-month period the books are at the barbershops. They also check back in the titles once they have been returned. Staff have found it really helpful to have two cards for each barbershop. One card has the titles that are currently on loan, and the second has the new collection on it. This helps keep straight what should be returned versus what has just been added to the barbershop bookcases.
After the circulation staff check out the books, they are put into bins and sent to the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s shipping department. The drivers then deliver the books to the barbershops, but they do not unpack. They also pick up the previous quarter’s materials, but they do not pack them up. Instead, a day or two before the delivery from shipping, the branch manager or a designee goes in and packs up the current materials at the barbershop. Then they go back within a day or two of the new shipment being delivered to unpack it. There are always some books on the shelves as the Barbershop Literacy Project has made permanent donations of titles. These titles tend to be classics.
The number of books sent is determined by the space at each location. As the barbers do not want the kids taking the books home, that also informs the length of books included. Demarchi says she mostly pulls picture books, beginning readers, high-interest nonfiction, and graphic novels. An occasional chapter book or teen book may be included, but the idea is for the books to be easy to browse and hopefully can be read in one visit.
These books are changed out quarterly, and at the Maple Heights Branch, Demarchi does the gathering. She is looking for African American titles with male characters. Contemporary is more popular, but she will also include some historical or history books. The rest of the titles are usually recent titles with high interest. Demarchi also includes some adult titles like cookbooks and books to help with resume creation for the use of student barbers. Most of the boys the barbers see are younger school age kids to middle graders, but kids of all ages are encouraged to read. The hope is to keep African American boys reading past the age where they typically stop.
One thing the library staff hears time and time again is that the kids love the books. They get excited when the new titles arrive. It is obvious when viewing the bookcases that the kids are rummaging through the shelves on a regular basis and selecting books they want to read. The barbers report enjoying talking about the books with kids during a haircut. Some are more comfortable than others, but most are giving it a try. “It is African American males (barbers) mentoring the younger generation” (Demarchi 2018). All are encouraging the kids to browse the shelves for books of interest, and this demonstrates to the caregivers that practicing reading skills is important.
Floor staff discovered early on that the barbers were not going to unpack the books delivered by the library’s shipping department. As mentioned, floor staff had to step up and visit the locations. It usually takes about one and a half hours to visit all five locations served by the Maple Heights Branch. A nice side benefit is that it gives staff a chance to check in with the barbers and see how the section looks. It always feels good to see it looking browsed, aka well loved!
The model is also going to have to shift a little because the Maple Heights Branch is looking into adding some beauty salons near the library. They want to encourage the African American girls to read too.
Over the last few years, more and more libraries have started offering drag queen story hour in addition to their regular weekly storytimes. The inclusive nature of having drag queens and kings present storytime is a wonderful way to embrace community members who might not feel as welcome. It also provides the opportunity for families that want to show their children the diverse world we live in, the chance to do so.
I first learned about Anchorage Public Library’s Drag Story Hour from a post Elizabeth Moreau Nicolai, youth services coordinator, shared on the Association for Library Service to Children’s electronic list in June 2018. Here she talked about dealing with backlash from someone in the community. She has a wealth of information about planning a Drag Story Hour and how to prepare for negative behavior before, during, and after the program. She does not use “Queen” in her program title as they also have a Drag King.
It took roughly a year from Moreau Nicolai deciding she wanted to host a Drag Story Hour to the first one being offered. Part of this was being persistent and chasing leads on Drag Queens who might be interested in presenting. She first found some leads on Facebook, but there tended to be a lack of follow-through by those she contacted. Then she was connected to Identity Inc., a group of local advocates who helped her find volunteers.
The next step was to train the volunteers on how to present a storytime. The volunteers tended to have experience performing, usually in a bar setting, but not for a child audience. They were not familiar with reading stories, performing rhymes, or singing kid songs. The Anchorage staff did a brief overview on the pieces included in a storytime. They shared a storytime outline sheet that the Drag Queens and King could use for planning. The Jbrary website was also shared as a good resource for learning the motions to rhymes and songs.
The library staff did pull books for the Drag presenters to choose from. Some might be LGBT themed, but others focused more on creativity, which is a very broad topic and allows for lots of books from any library’s collection to be considered perfect choices.
Moreau Nicolai did not just want to offer one Drag Story Hour during June for Pride Month as she felt strongly that it should be an “affirmation that inclusion is important to the community” (Moreau Nicolai 2018). So it was decided to host the first one in May 2018 and then a second one would be offered in June. After the success of both of these programs, in the future Drag Story Hour will be offered three times a year in February, June, and October.
Anchorage did not do a lot of extra promotion for the Drag Story Hour. They wanted to stay a little under the radar and see what the community response would be. They did create an event on the library’s Facebook page and on the library’s online event calendar. In June, they also included it in an e-mail newsletter. They found that on social media they got more positive comments than negative from all over the world. People from England and Georgia were giving shout-outs of encouragement.
For the first two Drag Story Hours, the program was offered in the regular storytime space on Saturdays. This room holds 75 people and they reached capacity both times. In May, they had to turn away about 20 people. In June it was closer to 30. From her personal relationships with some of the attendees, Moreau Nicolai knew there were LGBTQ families in attendance. It was also exciting to find families who were visiting the library for the first time, solely for the purpose of attending the Drag Story Hour.
The program was advertised for families with children aged five and under. So it was not surprising to see families with young children and elementary school age children attend. A little more unexpected were the adults without children and the teens. Moreau Nicolai felt the teens wanted to come because they were curious about Drag but were too young to go to a Drag performance since they typically take place in bars.
Going forward, Moreau Nicolai will move Drag Story Hour into the main theater that has room for 220 people, and there is better technology accessible to project stories, song lyrics, and rhymes so all can follow along with the presenters. In large groups simply sharing a picture book in its normal size will make it hard for many participants to view it.
Moreau Nicolai worked with two organizations—Urban Libraries and Drag Queen Story Hour—to prepare for any community questions and potential negativity. There was little negativity from outside sources before the May program other than a grandmother who was upset when she thought the library was charging for the program. Anchorage uses a ticket system for their programs, but there is no cost. Once explained, the grandmother was happy that money would not be a barrier to bringing a child.
In June, the lead-up was also pretty smooth, but during the actual program, a man who is a preacher interrupted the program to express his religious opinions on Drag and LGBTQ. The Drag Queen and King handled things beautifully by starting to sing and getting the families to sing along and drown out the man as he was escorted out. This quick thinking kept the kids calm and allowed for the program to continue on.
The library looked to their current policies and procedures to explain to the man why he was removed from the room. These included:
While the man did continue to protest his treatment, the library made it clear that these were the factors for his removal and not what he had to say. Being prepared ahead of time allowed the library to control the conversation.
If you are thinking about hosting your first Drag Queen Story Hour but want to see one first, you can find a list of upcoming programs on the Drag Queen Story Hour website. This is a great way to become familiar with the program. This will likely boost your desire to offer such a program in your own library.
Depending on the size and structure of your library and whether you are a public or school library, you will probably want to have a conversation with your administration before you move forward. You want to make sure they are on board and support the offering of a Drag Queen Story Hour. Perhaps show pictures or clips from the storytime you attend, if they allow you to record the program. Be ready to convince if there is some hesitation. Once you have administrative support, you can move on to the next step.
Now you will want to talk with families you see regularly at the library and who attend other programs you offer. Ask them about their interest in a Drag Queen Story Hour. Mention how the program’s goal is to spark creativity and creative expression. Hopefully, you will hear from parents that they would be interested or that they would like more information about the program.
Again, if you are hearing resistance, listen to the concerns and see if you can alleviate them. If there is more resistance than you expected, do not get discouraged. Families that would like a diverse program may not be currently using your library. Be prepared for the negative but keep going!
Once you feel that you are ready for any potential challenges from naysayers, it is time to start looking for partners. You will want to look for organizations and contacts in your community who can help you find Drag Queens and Kings to work with. This may take a little time, like it did for Moreau Nicolai, but it will be worth it in the end.
As the youth services coordinator, Moreau Nicolai believes you should avoid surprising people by the content of a program. What she means is that you do not want to offer a Drag Story Hour one week as part of your regular Preschool Storytime. This may come as a surprise for parents who will not have had time to prepare themselves or their children. She feels that caregivers deserve the right to make a conscious decision to attend or not. Moreau Nicolai treats holiday programs like Halloween and Christmas in the same way. If they offer these programs, they are on a special date and time. She feels this helps build trust between the parents and the library staff.
A final thought to help you decide if you are ready for Drag Queen Story Hour is that after two programs, 150 people enjoyed the program and asked for more. One lone man and his camera accomplice were the only people to come in to the library to protest. The numbers do not lie here. A Drag Story Hour can be a way to connect with your community in an inclusive way.
The first National African American Read-In was hosted in 1990. It is sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English. A Read-In is meant to be a way to celebrate Black History Month, and they take place on the first Sunday or Monday of February. This program works very similar to the Día program the Association of Library Service to Children offers each April. It includes a toolkit and the ability to register your program on a national registry. While the National African American Read-In started in the education community, hosting a Read-In aligns perfectly with the sentiment that libraries are the hub of a community.
Maria Trivisonno is a children’s librarian II for Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Warrensville Branch. She is a white woman working in a predominately black community. Several years ago, Trivisonno wanted to do something special to honor African American History Month with her kids.
Her hope was to promote literacy with a program that needed little preparation and would not cost much to execute, as she did not have a large programming budget. The first two years she tried a book club. Year one with Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott, saw nine kids attend, but in year two with Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden, illustrated by Don Tate, no one attended.
Rather than get discouraged, Trivisonno went back to the drawing board to figure out what would be the best way to engage her kids and promote literacy. It was at this point that she heard about the National African American Read-In that a librarian friend was doing at a neighboring library system. After checking out the NCTE website, she began planning for a Read-In of her own in February 2017. She was excited because not only would the program promote literacy but it also was an opportunity to offer an intergenerational program.
Trivisonno followed this format when creating her one-hour African American Read-In. About 40 minutes were allotted for the reading portion. Kids have a chance to look at the reading selections so they can pick one they feel comfortable reading aloud. Everyone does not have to read aloud. The librarian kicks things off with a short piece, usually from a longer novel. Then the kids and adults read the pieces they have selected. She also likes to break it up a little with some music. The last 20 minutes is snack time.
The host of the program will need to have reading selections prepared ahead of time. While some participants may come with their own pieces including their own original creations, it is more likely that kids, in particular, will need a simple selection to read from. Trivisonno recommends using picture books and poetry by African American authors like Ashley Bryan, Jacqueline Woodson, and Leo and Diane Dillon. The book Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs, and Stories from an African American Childhood by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, has some great rhymes for the littlest kids.
Depending on your situation, you might need to place an age restriction on participants. Trivisonno said her target was all ages but found she mostly had kindergarten through eighth grade and adults. You can be pretty broad about the ages attending as long as you make sure everyone understands that the reading selections need to be appropriate for the variety of ages in attendance.
The Warrensville Branch is a suburb of the city of Cleveland. Many students visit the library after school until a parent or guardian is home. This after-school crowd offers a built-in audience for the program but is unlikely to bring in caregivers. To have an adult presence, Trivisonno reaches out to other members of the community.
She enters the information in the library’s events calendar and printed program guide. One additional step she takes is to send invites to community members. People you might consider including are teachers, school board members, city council members, and the mayor. She also looks at the adult groups using the meeting rooms and invites the Adult Book Club and the Poetry Group.
For many libraries that host an African American Read-In in their school or public library, it might be possible to have the parents attend with their children. Of course, this would be the ideal scenario as kids could read with their parents, read in front of their parents, or listen to their parents read. In any of these three scenarios, kids see that reading is important to the adults in their lives.
The ideal is not always practical or achievable. At Trivisonno’s branch the odds of having parents or grandparents attend programs with school age kids is pretty low. Many are working multiple jobs and it simply is not feasible. For Trivisonno, the African American Read-In is an opportunity for kids to see African American adults as reading role models. As she likes to tell kids, “You read for school. People read for life” (Trivisonno 2018).
One caveat: the adults are reading aloud in front of the group, and a library staff member is always present in the room. The adults are not reading one-on-one or with small groups of kids. Libraries should always use caution when bringing in adults to children’s programs. If kids will be left alone with the adults or work more directly with them in a group setting, I would highly recommend you have a policy in place to do background checks first. This protects the library and the kids we serve.
I’m always a fan of a program that does not cost much and this is that type of program. The only expense would be if you serve refreshments, which are nice to have but not crucial to the success of the program. This program was created by educators and belongs in schools. School librarians can have classes read aloud from African American writers during library time in February, can partner with a teacher or grade and pick a day to host a Read-In, or can get the principal on board and do a school-wide assembly where kids volunteer to read aloud pieces.
Like most librarians, Trivisonno included a book display of titles to read from but also longer works by authors like Christopher Paul Curtis, Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, and Rachel Renée Russell. Upon seeing the Dork Diaries series by Russell, the kids were surprised and delighted to learn the author was African American.
About 20 people participated in 2017 and again in 2018. The first year it was mostly adults reading, but in 2018 the middle-school crowd also wanted to read. Trivisonno made contact with one of the sixth-grade teachers who offered extra credit to kids who participated. In the future, she hopes to continue this relationship and to bring on board a few more teachers to help increase the number of participants.
During the spring of 2018, I spent a couple of months working at the Beachwood Branch filling in as the children’s librarian, and I was able to see firsthand how the staff is working to meet the needs of their community. Two programs that really spoke to me were the Hebrew Storytime and the Chinese Storytime. Both programs are collaborations with members of the community.
Hebrew Storytime has been around the longest. Children’s librarian Amy Dreger was aware that one of the populations her branch served was Jewish. Dreger witnessed these families using the library and thought it would be great to offer a storytime in Hebrew, but she didn’t speak the language and there was not anyone on staff who knew enough Hebrew to feel comfortable presenting. By happenstance, a woman who worked for the Jewish Education Center called with a question and Dreger happened to be the other person on the phone. They got to talking, and Dreger learned that the Jewish Education Center was offering Hebrew Storytimes at the local Barnes and Noble. Dreger set up a meeting to discuss offering a program at the library, and both parties decided to give it a try. In 2018, roughly five years later, the program is going strong and only offered at the public library.
Chinese Storytime happened in a slightly different way. Again, Dreger knew that her community would be interested in a storytime in Chinese, but there was not a person on staff who could lead. Then Aimee Lurie, branch manager, started noticing that a Chinese group was routinely booking the meeting room to offer a Chinese program for families. Lurie and Dreger worked with the leaders to create a collaboration between the group and the library. Like the Hebrew Storytime, this group was also presenting at several locations, but once they found a permanent home at the library, they focused their program there.
Cuyahoga County Public Library requires a staff member to be present at all children’s programs even if the program is done by an outside presenter. So this is a factor when considering a reoccurring program like a world language storytime. However, both Dreger and Lurie feel that the benefits far outweigh the staff time involved. For both storytimes, the groups they partner with do the planning and presenting, with minimal help from library staff. The occasional craft supply or use of the shaky eggs are usually all that is required.
Both programs consist of a story or two, songs, and a craft. The presenters for Hebrew Storytime work at the local Jewish day school, so they are familiar with working with groups of children. The Chinese Storytime presenters are two enthusiastic parents who did not have this same experience. So, for Chinese Storytime, Dreger provided some basic training on things like early literacy skills, using manipulatives, as well as the importance of songs and rhymes.
While both programs provide a storytime in another language, the way they are presented is slightly different. For Hebrew Storytime, the presenter is teaching words and phrases to kids and adults who want to learn the language but don’t speak it as a first or second language. The storytime is a mix of Hebrew and English.
For Chinese Storytime, the presenters are doing the majority of the story-time in Chinese and the families attending speak Chinese. The parents and grandparents want to keep the language alive in the next generation. This is starting to change a little as families who have adopted Chinese children and other non-Chinese families are starting to attend as a way for their children to learn about another language and culture.
Dreger works with the presenters to make sure the program remains inclusive while not losing their initial purpose of providing storytimes that are in a child’s or family’s own language. To keep the lines of communication open, Dreger recommends having periodic meetings with the presenters to check and see how things are going. It gives her the opportunity to make suggestions on how things might work better for the library and to hear how the library could better support the program.
Hebrew Storytime is offered once a month on Wednesdays at 4:00 P.M. and Chinese Storytime is offered twice a month on Saturdays at 10:30 A.M. Hebrew Storytime goes for about half an hour, and the ages of the children skew anywhere from babies to third graders. Mothers, nannies, grandparents, and fathers attend with the kids. Most months there are anywhere from 20 to 25 people in attendance. Chinese Storytime goes for closer to an hour and a half and the children tend to be babies through first grade. For many of the families it is a multigenerational event. Mother and father, grandmother and grandfather will all attend with the children. This program typically sees 40 to 50 people in attendance.
The library includes the Chinese and Hebrew Storytimes in their printed program guide and their online events calendar. This reaches regular library users and perhaps a few families that stumble upon it while browsing the print or online program descriptions. However, this does not necessarily reach families that are not already using the library.
That is why collaboration is so terrific. The program leaders will promote the storytimes to their own contacts, which really helps get the word out to nonlibrary users. Lurie and Dreger have both noticed that families they have not seen in the library before will attend these world-language storytimes. Lurie also makes it a point to let families that are visiting the library know about the storytimes. For example, if she overhears someone speaking Hebrew, she will mention the program and invite them to attend.
All families are encouraged to attend traditional storytime and other programs and events the library offers and some do. However, they have found that these two storytimes tend to invite a different audience. This, of course, supports their decision to devote staff, resources, and meeting rooms to these reoccurring programs.
Lurie suggests that you look at who is using your meeting rooms and library to gauge which languages to offer. Then see if someone you know might be willing to work with the library or have contacts they can share. Decide upfront what the library’s role and the presenter’s role will be so that there are fewer surprises along the way.
You will also need to figure out who will supply the books in the world language. For Hebrew Storytime the presenters bring titles from the school library, although the public library is planning to add Hebrew-language books to the collection starting in 2019. The public library started collecting Chinese picture books to support the storytime in 2017. These titles are purchased from China Sprout, as the presenters are looking for popular stories published in the United States that have been translated into Chinese.
As the person who selects the materials, I made the initial contact with China Sprout. I quickly learned that the dialect, like Mandarin, applies to how the language is spoken rather than written. Instead, when purchasing I needed to know if the books should be in traditional or simplified characters. After conferring with the presenters, we learned that simplified characters were what they would need.
From my own experience, I can say that you will likely get families you have never seen before and they may skew older than you expect. I found this when I did a series of language storytimes during my traditional family storytime back in 2010. For Spanish it was mostly the typical crowd. For Arabic there were a few new families, and when we did French, there were school-age kids and their mother who spoke fluent French. She came to our library specifically because she had heard about the program. She was delighted to speak in French with the presenter at the end of the program.
I also had the opportunity to sit in on the Chinese Storytime several times. It was a powerful experience to be in a room where I was the only white person and to hear a language spoken around me that I did not understand at all. It gave me an even greater appreciation for what families new to a country must feel. I concur with Dreger and Lurie that overall, it is pretty easy to implement once you find your partner, and you will find it a rewarding way to connect with your community.
For families that have children with developmental differences, traditional storytime tends to be a barrier. While most caregivers say the issue is not the library staff, they do tend to feel unwelcome by the other parents. Their child’s need to move around or sensitivity to the noise of a traditional program can cause them to be singled out by the rest of the families. Many libraries are recognizing this divide and are working to make sure children at all developmental levels can enjoy the storytime experience.
In 2015, Cuyahoga County Public Library was offering training to staff on becoming an Adapted Storytime presenter. For Angie, this sounded like an opportunity that she wanted to learn more about. She went to the initial training with the understanding that she was not required to pursue the full training unless she wanted to. It was important that those becoming presenters had a desire to present programs to meet the needs of developmentally different families.
After attending the initial meeting, Angie was ready to move forward with the next steps. This involved observing others presenting the Adapted Storytime. Then as she became more comfortable, she copresented. After that she was ready to start presenting on her own.
The North Royalton Branch offers Adapted Storytime in the branch once a quarter, and once a month, they offer outreach to the Peer Model Preschool, which is part of the public schools. The preschool has seven classes that range in developmental ability. In the beginning, Angie was doing all of the presentations, as she was the only one trained. About a year into going to the preschool, Maria was also trained and so they could split the classes up. It also allowed them to co-present the Adapted Storytime at the branch.
An Adapted Storytime will have many of the same elements as your other storytimes, like songs, rhymes, fingerplays, and stories. Find a sample program outline in Appendix G. You’ll probably use a similar welcome speech that includes asking caregivers to participate and letting them know it is okay to step out if a child becomes out of sorts. They are always welcome to exit and reenter as needed.
However, there are some differences too. Angie and Maria say to keep in mind these things when you put together your adapted program:
Adapted Storytime is included in the Cuyahoga County Public Library program guide that lists all branch programs. It is also part of the online events calendar. Since the program is only offered once a quarter, the branches offering Adapted Storytime try to offer it on different days so families can attend more than one branch and, therefore, more storytimes each quarter.
Recently, the library partnered with Connecting for Kids, a resource for parents with kids who need adapted programs and outings. Angie and Maria have found that this partnership has helped increase the number of families attending the Adapted Storytimes each quarter from four families to seven families. They limit the number of children to 12, and siblings are encouraged to attend with the family. Families are encouraged to register, and reminder phone calls are made. During these calls, it is a chance for library staff to ask if there is anything they should know that would make the experience a better one for the child.
Outreach is an important way to reach more of the community. By partnering with the Peer Model Preschool, the library is able to connect with kids who might not be coming into the branch. Angie and Maria have found that families from the preschool have started coming into the library and are attending the Adapted Storytimes. In order to make the outreach visits successful, the library sends a letter at the beginning of each school year. It tells the preschool staff what they can expect during a visit and what is expected of the teachers and aides. The letter states, “We also ask for full participation in the storytime from teachers and aides, as this encourages and supports the children in their own participation” (Angie and Maria 2018). An explanation of what Adapted Storytime means at Cuyahoga County Public Library and a link to the event calendar for additional programming information is also shared.
Just like all the storytimes that the library offers, Adapted Storytime requires parent involvement and Angie has found that there tends to be an even greater response then in traditional storytime. The parents will help their child put flannel pieces on the flannel board or walk the balance beam. Modeling of behaviors takes place and there is repetition of activities, but to help kids know what is coming next, Angie and Maria use a schedule board.
Another important piece for the caregivers is the social play that takes place after Adapted Storytime. Toys are brought out and families can make connections while the kids play. This adds to the overall feeling of being welcome at the library.
Most parents say that it is nice to not be attracting extra attention while in storytime. “Having an Adapted Storytime allows them to attend without feeling judged by other parents,” said one father. Very important to the parents is that the whole family can attend together. The program is not just for the sibling that needs the adaptations. The storytime I attended had one preschool boy who benefited from an adapted program, and his younger and older brothers also enjoyed attending with him.
You may be reading this and thinking, “I would love to offer this programming in my community.” You may know that you have a real need from the families you see or do not see. You may feel all this but be stumped on where to even start. Do not feel bad! Being willing to learn and try is half the battle. The first thing you can do is look to the libraries near you. Do any of them offer an Adapted Storytime? If so, contact them and ask if you can come observe. Most librarians are more than happy to share and will welcome your interest. These programs may also be listed as Sensory or Special Needs Storytimes.
Depending on where you are located, that might not be possible, so another resource would be the special education teachers at your local public schools. Contact the schools for a name and see if you can come in to observe part of the day. See if they might be willing to help you plan an Adapted Storytime and even copresent a few until you feel comfortable. Just like librarians, teachers like to share their knowledge.
The world around us is full of people of all different races, religions, economic status, and beliefs. What we read and share must now go beyond the standard white boy or girl. Diverse families deserve to see themselves in the books shared by library staff. Read books from these broad categories to expand your knowledge.
Barnes, Derrick. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Chicago, IL: Bolden Books, 2017. unpaged. $17.95. 9781572842243.
Blue, Rose, and Corinne J. Naden. Ron’s Big Mission. Illustrated by Don Tate. New York, NY: Dutton Children’s Books, 2009. unpaged. $16.99. 9780535478492.
McKissack, Patricia C. Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs, & Stories from an African American Childhood. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2017. 173p. $24.99. 9780375870880.
Russell, Rachel Renée. Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life. New York, NY: Aladdin, 2009. 282p. $13.99. 9781416980063.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Show Way. Illustrated by Hudson Talbott. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2005. unpaged. $16.99. 9780399237492.
Angie and Maria. In interview with the author. June 28, 2018.
Bartlett, Wendy, and Kate Merlene. In interview with the author. September 19, 2018.
Demarchi, Bonnie. In interview with the author. May 7, 2018.
Dreger, Amy, and Aimee Lurie. In interview with the author. July 30, 2018.
Moreau Nicolai, Elizabeth. In phone interview with the author. July 12, 2018.
Trivisonno, Maria. In interview with the author. May 22, 2018.
China Sprout. Accessed: September 10, 2018. http://www.chinasprout.com.
Connecting for Kids. Accessed: June 29, 2018. https://www.connectingforkids.org.
Día. Accessed: June 21, 2018. http://dia.ala.org.
Drag Queen Story Hour. Accessed: August 10, 2018. https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org.
Jbrary. Accessed: September 10, 2018. https://jbrary.com.
National Council of Teachers of English, National African American Read-In. Accessed: June 21, 2018. http://www2.ncte.org/get-involved/african-american-read-in/.