This week I'm celebrating the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) in Madison. I had the opportunity to hang out there most of the day yesterday. The librarians there are passionate about children's and young adult literature and are doing amazing things to help teachers, librarians, parents, youth, and others find the books they want and need. I posted the graphic above because it represents some of the great work the CCBC is doing around diversity in kidlit. To find out more about the graphic itself, visit Sarah Park Dahlen's page. To find out more about the statistics, visit CCBlogC. For an update on how the statistics are being tallied this year (they are collecting more information) and what the status is so far, check out this CCBC post.
They have some wonderful booklists and resources online in addition to tons of books there in the facility that are available to look at when you stop by. I also appreciate their ARC shelf. I picked up a few including We Are Okay by Nina LaCour.
It's always a good day when you get to be with people who are excited about the same things you love. I appreciate being able to talk about books with such awesome people and look forward to seeing many of the same people again in just a few weeks as we gather for the Zolotow Lecture. This year we'll hear from Jacqueline Woodson thanks to the sponsorship by CCBC and Friends of the CCBC. I can't wait.
Your passion for diversity is the passion I was talking about in my post. I know many people have been inspired because of you. What fun to hear Jacqueline Woodson!!! Can't wait to hear about that!
ReplyDeleteMadison, Wisconsin? How could I not have heard of this? I live in Kenosha....
ReplyDeleteHow lucky, lucky, lucky you are to be able to hear Jacqueline Woodson this year!!
Sounds like a marvelous group and place, Crystal. I read that final post about collecting data. I am especially keeping track of what I'm buying for my granddaughters, trying hard to find books with diversity for them. Thanks for sharing this, and it is a celebration, but seems to be needing additional progress, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is still a lot of work to do. I'm glad there are people committed to working for change.
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ReplyDeleteLibrarians rock! I am more and more convinced that librarians are secret magicians who slowly and steadily change the world for the better.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting to spend the day with fellow passionate book lovers. I spent my Saturday with lovers of poetry. Enjoy the lecture by Jacqueline Woodson. We'll be watching for a post in celebration of the event.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, being a proponent of books celebrating diversity is a calling. We need more books on this topic so students can identify with characters and become lovers of books.
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