Recently I’ve heard of some libraries / librarians undertaking diversity audits of their collections, and I absolutely love this idea! There is nothing like raw quantitative data to show us what we’re doing well and where we can do better. So I’ve decided to accept the challenge for myself. Diversity and inclusion are core values for Stories, Songs, and Stretches! and I’ve made a commitment that 40% of our content (picture books featured in trainings, materials used in programs, etc.) will be by and/or about people of color. But I’ve never explicitly sat down and looked at the numbers to ensure that this is the case. Now is the time to see if I’m measuring up to my own expectations. And I’m sharing the process with you!
Here is a booklist of more than sixty picture books that I regularly feature in my trainings and/or use in my programs. I am researching the demographic information of each of the authors and illustrators of these books to the best of my ability, as well as noting if the materials themselves feature diverse characters, movement content, and/or SEL content. It is my hope that this will be a super helpful resource for you in many ways. Feel free to download the list or visit my Goodreads shelf to build your programming collection.
Once I complete this initial round of my diversity audit, I will post again with my results and what I have learned from the experience.