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Have you been following #WeNeedDiverseBooks on FB or Tumblr? They’ve been coming up with spot on books pairs this summer.

The WNDB Team has most recently been joined by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. the Cake Literary Ladies!

You know everything is bigger in Texas, including the state’s annual library conference. TLA has got to be the most popular state library conference in the nation. Call for papers is currently open.

The Américas Award created a list of selected Américas Award titles that highlight issues surrounding children and the border.  This and other thematic guides can be found on the Américas website:www.claspprograms.org/americasaward.  Contribute your activities and titles on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/americasaward.

Children’s laureate Malorie Blackman, authors, illustrators, poets in the UK are part of a movement demanding the government insure a presence of good libraries in all schools.

And in the US? Well, the schools in Chicago all have libraries, but half of them have librarians. The Mayor’s CEO says they can’t find librarians to fill the positions. That reminds me so much of publishers saying they can’t find authors of color. Numerous schools around Indiana have lost librarians, most often in elementary schools. I’ve heard of some schools in the state relying upon the public library to come in and provide library services. Not all librarians are created equal! While both a public and school librarian would be familiar with children’s and young adult literature, the public librarian would work more on programming and not be familiar with the curriculum as a school librarian would. Librarians provide technology training for students and staff, often teaching classes and providing professional development. I don’t know how we think schools can do without them.

Kate DiCamillo is our current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

BrownBookShelf continues the “Making Our Own Market” series with an interview of self published author DuEwa Frazier.

 Eventually, I taught myself how to self-publish. There was no one there to hold my hand through the entire process but I did receive support. I took writing workshops with the late, great poet, Louis Reyes Rivera and was mentored by Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets. I attended many of the Center for Black Literature’s National Black Writers Conference’s early panels and workshops. I later took children’s writing and non-fiction workshops at other centers in the city. I became a part of a community of writers who had academics and cultural consciousness in their backgrounds.

We’re already talking Back to School. Summer here has been slow to warm and it feels like it hasn’t really started yet. Slow to warm and high humidity here makes me wonder how in the world June 2014 could have been the hottest June on record. Ah! To get out of my little bubble! #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Another small press to put on your radar: Brown Girl Publishing.

From their site:

Our Company: Brown Girls Publishing is a boutique publishing company, focusing primarily on digital content, while still providing printed books through Amazon. Our goal is to provide a voice for literary fan favorites, while introducing the next generation of authors.

Our Founders: Between them, National Bestselling authors, ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Victoria Christopher Murray have more than two million books in print. The dynamic duo decided to combine their respective talents in a highly popular series, in addition to their successful solo careers. So naturally, their next endeavor would be something near and dear to their hearts – helping build the next generation of authors, while at the same time, spotlighting some fan favorites. Victoria, a former successful entrepreneur, also holds an MBA from New York University. ReShonda is a former TV journalist and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience.

Beautiful summer weather this Sunday afternoon! I began my day in the garden and had my first harvest. I had so little on my ‘to do’ list yesterday, no more than to go to the market and to  read. The market here hasn’t even begun. And, the #weNeedDiverseBooks session at BEA was yesterday. I got myself to a diner to follow the tweets where I learned about plans for #WeNeedDiverseBooks to work with the National Education Association and First Book to plan a KitLit Diversity Expo in Washington DC in 2016. The jam-packed room resounded with support for the need for more diverse books and the momentum is just beginning.

No doubt it will take every day from now until then to plan the expo, but it will take everyone one of us being involved in kidlit to make it successful. Now more than ever is time to be present and any and every forum that relates to young adult literature, not just diversity. We have to continue showing up to stay part of the conversation. Join them on Twitter or Facebook if you can’t join in person.

As I reflect on the yesterday’s events, I considered two groups: librarians and young adults themselves.

I think it will be very hard for many young adults to express their desire for more books with characters like them. Those who do have a high level of awareness and will make extremely articulate cases for why we need more diverse books.

My own story is not unlike many of my generation, of not knowing I wanted books with black people until I’d found them. I grew up in Catholic all white schools and as an avid reader, I read whatever I could find. I remember going to the public library in the black neighborhood as a child. Black librarians (or were they clerks?) worked there but I do not remember books with black children then. I remember the good sisters giving me anthologies that contained stories and poems written by black authors and while I was initially embarrassed, I cherished those books and read them again and again. Probably in high school I found the Soul Brothers and Sister Lou. Definitely in high school I found Sammy Davis’ Junior’s Yes I Can and Margaret Walker’s Jubilee. I don’t remember any others, but I know the desire was there. Junior year I know I read Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Gwendolyn Brooks with some discomfort in my all white classes yet the topic I selected for my research project that year was LeRoi Jones.

Of course teachers need better training on cultural awareness, but the issue I’m looking at is the lack of books available to me in the library. What if I could have found them freely on my own? What if my classmates could have read books about black kids? Or Latina? Or Asian? How much more would we all have grown and developed? I can’t help but think that if I’d read more books with characters like me, I’d have found my voice sooner.

What experiences are young people of color today having with their reading selections? How many are able to find what they want? How many want more books with young people of differing color, nationality, sexual orientation or abilities? I remember how powerful Ari’s voice was and would like to hear from more young people.

I have to shake a finger of blame for the lack of diversity at my fellow librarians who continue to complain ‘the books are too hard to find’. I’m right here sharing book news as is Diversity in YA,  Rich in Color, and American Indians in Children’s Literature as is your library’s booksellers as is Amazon!! (hint: search young adult African American) Library shelves should reflect the diversity of America!

In April, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) released “The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Material Collections for Children”.

“The white paper explores the critical role libraries play in helping children make cross-cultural connections and develop skills necessary to function in a culturally pluralistic society.  The paper calls for libraries to include diversity in programming and materials for children as an important piece in meeting the informational and recreational needs of their community.”

“The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action” was just released by the Young Adult Library Services Association. The report affirmed that teens find libraries to be a safe haven, but it also reported on how many libraries are at risk of losing teen spaces. Who are these teens you ask?

“According to an analysis of the 2010 census data completed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, there are currently 74.2 million children under the age of eighteen in the United States; 46% of them are children of color.14 All of the growth in the child population since 2000 has been among groups other than non-Hispanic whites.”

The report goes on to enumerate the many social issues confronting these teens and dynamic programs libraries across the country have developed not necessarily to address these issues but to address literacies this empowering teens through measures that are equitable and just.

And it starts with the books on the shelves that reflect the world in which we live.

Literacy. I haven’t talked tech in a while. Google scares me not because of their admitted lack of diversity but because Google continues to develop more and more Artificial Intelligence capabilities. Oh, it began with how they studied search patterns (knowledge seeking behaviors) it blossomed with Google Glass and thrives when we hear about Google devices in surgeries and now Google Nose?? Let’s keep our kids literate. Follow these stories and know how information and technology is being used in our world.  Let’s keep them reading! Let’s get them Binging it!

That beautiful sunshine has morphed into a dark gray sky, thunder and pouring rain. Diversity is beautiful.

They’re that eyeglass wearing black family in that cellphone commercial. They’re all over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

They’re watching Cosmos with @neiltyson

And now, they’re reaching YA Lit.

Black + Nerd = Blerd

The numbers of urban lit books for teens has been decreasing for quite some time and nothing had really become the new niche for black authors. With very few romance, adventure, dystopian, science fiction or mystery books written that featured black protagonists, one had to wonder what publishers would establish as the next genre where we would find black characters.

This month, HMH Books for Young Readers give us Eddie Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile written by debut author Marcia Wells and illustrated by Marcos Calo. In May, Varian Johnson’s Great Green Heist (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic) hits the shelves. I believe both books are part of a series.

The timing is great for each of these as MG fiction is becoming the hottest thing since sliced bread and Blerds are in!!

 I think the glasses were the first sign that Blerds were trending.

I’ve stumbled across some on Twitter.

@BlackGirlsCode Our mission is to empower young women of color ages 7-17 to embrace the current tech marketplace as builders + creators. http://www.blackgirlscode.com/ 

@BlackGirlNerds An online community devoted to promoting nerdiness among women of color. Live tweeter. Ranter. Raver. Geeker Outer. Tweets by @jamiebroadnaxblackgirlnerds.com (Shorty Award nominee)

@BlackGeeksMeet A place where Geeks of Color can Meet, Talk and get excited over their passions. Not exclusive, just empowering and energizing. blackgeeksmeet.com

@blkintechnology Blacks In Technology is the premier online community for Black techies. Membership is free. Visit us. Bringing Unity to the Black IT Community Cincinnati, Ohio ·blacksintechnology.net

@TheNerdsofColor Pop culture with a different perspective. Watch us at: http://www.youtube.com/thenerdsofcolor  thenerdsofcolor.org

No, they’re not only Black.

@GirlsinCapes On identity in geek culture. Tweets by @FelizaCasano. http://facebook.com/GirlsInCapes girlsincapes.com

@LatinasinSTEM Org established and run by #Latina #MIT alumnae. Our mission is to inspire and empower Latinas to pursue, thrive and advance in #STEM fields.LatinasinSTEM.com

@Latinitas Empowering Latina youth through media & technology, 1st digital mag by & for Latina youth. Now accepting Summer internship applications!· latinitasmagazine.org

Melo Funkademic1 @melofunkademic1 STEM Ambassador for The People. Tumblr: funkademic1funkademic1.wordpress.com

And, they morph into futurism and fantasy.

@iafrofuturism Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi & Fantasy Culture (Lawrence Hill Books) by @ytashawomack http://iafrofuturism.wordpress.com  The Future of Now · iafrofuturism.com

@scifilatino Commenting on Latinos and Latinas in science fiction and fantasy. Includes TV, movies, books, and other media.The ‘Verse · scifilatino.wordpress.com

Asian girls fight this stereotype and aren’t as likely to embrace nerd power. While I’ve found several black and Asian males who tweet about technology and STEM, I’ve not found a consolidated effort tweeting for male nerds of color.

So, why am I giving all the attention to these nerds? I do so for three reasons. First, I think they’re part of a growing trend that tells our children that it’s OK to be smart, it’s preferable to be intelligent and information in necessary for success. I see this as a direct consequence of having a black president.

Second, I hope this trend continues to influence publishing. Not only should it lead to a wider variety of books, but it should get decisions makers to make that tiny leap to realize that Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian Americans do read (and write!!) books.

And finally, it’s also important for librarians to be aware of nerds of color. It would be wonderful if we could attract them to our profession because their knowledge and skills are germane to librarianship of the future. 21^st century librarianship is all about collaboration, data management and scholarly communication. These new activities transcend all areas of librarianship in different forms.

As these new groups begin to develop and strategize, they benefit from our ability to network with them as they seek new collaborators and ways to organize information and data. Working with them grows our field and provides many mutual benefits. I’ve reached out to do some networking and found myself in the middle of a tweetup on coding. As participants shared their needs and frustrations, I saw ways librarians could easily address these concerns while participants could go on explore the world of coding. Other librarians would find ways to develop their coding skills.

We can also work in our public, school and academic librarians to provide space and leadership for those groups who need to know it’s OK to be a nerd.

Students of Middle Eastern decent.

American Indians.

Even Asian girls and boys need to know it’s OK if the want to be a nerd.

Black and Latino males. Let’s overcome the lies told about black boys. (Read this informative article to find out how the numbers of black males in college and prison are misrepresented and how sports do not build habits of mind necessary for success in our young men.)

It can start with book groups that provide safe places for students to talk about their love of reading or technology clubs that developing information literacy skills, but it needs to expand to uncover and nurture these students desire to go to college, invent new technologies, lead countries or vacation on the moon. Move them forward with metaliteracies. Librarians touch the future. (BTW, National Library Week begins today!)

Have you read any books featuring nerds of color?

This weekend ALA President Barbara Stripling sent out an email announcing a joint statement that the BCALA and the ALA cooaboratively developed and was then endorsed by the other ethnic affiliates, AILA, APALA, CALA and REFORMA. Stripling will be appointing a Special Presidential Task Force on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to develop strategic atction ideas.

In response to BCALA’s concern regarding holding the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, in 2016, the ALA Executive Board thoroughly explored the options for moving the conference. ALA started by clarifying the facts underlying conference site selection, the implications of trying to move the Orlando conference, and the prevalence of Stand Your Ground laws across the United States. The contracts for Orlando were negotiated originally in 2000; the Stand Your Ground law in Florida became effective on October 1, 2005. Cancelling the hotel and convention center contracts would result in a minimum fine of $814,000. Conferences as large as ALA must be scheduled for specific sites and contracts signed at least 7–10 years in advance. At this late date, it would be highly unlikely that ALA would be able to find another site with availability during our window of late June/early July 2016.

Most troubling is the growing prevalence of Stand Your Ground laws. Twenty-two states have laws that allow for that self-defense provision to be asserted (as of August 2013). An additional 21 states have enacted laws that allow for self-defense within one’s home (called Castle Doctrines). However, each state has implemented and applied the Stand Your Ground laws differently, and it is the interpretation and application of the Stand Your Ground Law in the Zimmerman and Dunn cases, as well as the Marissa Alexander case, that has heightened the urgency for discussion and action.

With that information in hand, our ALA’s Executive Committee and BCALA’s Executive Board decided that the best way to respond to the Florida situation is by turning it into an opportunity to educate, build awareness, and advocate for equitable treatment, inclusion, and respect for diversity.

Congratulations to Nahoko Uehashi (Japan) on winning the 2014 Hans Christian Anderson Author award.

According to the IBBY jury chaired by María Jesús Gil of Spain, “Uehashi tells stories that are replete with imagination, culture and the beauty of a sophisticated process and form. Her literary subjects are based on ancient Japanese mythology and science-fiction fantasy that are deeply rooted in human reality.”

Congratulations to Roger Mello (Brazil) for winning the 2014 Hans Christian Anderson Illustrator award.

An illustrator, writer and playwright, Roger Mello has illustrated more than one hundred titles, having also provided the text for twenty of them. He works as an illustrator for five different publishing houses and he is also the author of several theatre plays.

 

The awards were announced at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy. This event first began in 1963 and has become a premier event for children’s publishers around the world. A few trends seemed to develop at the Book Fair this year. There was a growing number of Chinese picture books that originating in China, indicating that imported books to the country will no longer dominate the market. The L.A. Times reports that this year’s Fair had strong interests in middle grade fiction in general and in contemporary realism for YAs.

Marvel Comics announced a female Muslim superhero in November and School Library Journal (SLJ) posted a very informative interview with the creator of the character. While Ms. Marvel is the first American Muslim female character to have her own series, she’s not the first Muslim super hero.

• Sim Baz, Lebanese American who took over for the Green Lantern “In his debut issue, Baz, who is Lebanese, is watching the events of 9/11 unfold on his TV as a 10-year-old, and dealing with the aftermath that Muslims faced in America. And his first major obstacle isn’t a conventional super-villain, but “a federal agent who deems him a terrorist.” (Marvel)
• Dust, a young Afghan woman whose mutant ability to manipulate sand and dust has been part of the popular X-Men books. (Marvel)
• Nightrunner, a young Muslim hero of Algerian descent, is part of the global network of crime fighters set up by Batman alter ego Bruce Wayne. (DC Comics)
• The 99 created by Naif Al-Mutawa, developed a 6 issue crossover with DC Comics in 2010.
• Dust, aka Sooraya Qadir, is an Afghanistan-born Sunni Muslim who, when kidnapped by slave traders, uses her mutant power to turn herself into a sand-like substance to flay them alive. (Marvel)

I’m not much into Comics, never read much beyond Richie Rich and Archie. In fact, I wouldn’t have realized Stan Lee’s pattern of same first letter for first and last name if it wasn’t for Raj on Big Bang Theory (video). I was pleasantly surprised to find out how diverse comics are.

I think if I could have super human abilities, I’d be able to speak, read and understand all languages. Or maybe never gain excessive weight no matter what I eat. What about you?

I have a busy week coming up with visitors to the library from Thailand, high schoolers coming to learn about scholarly research and the beginning of the garden season. Wishing you all the super abilities you need to shine this week!

SHINE ON!

“’They’re so hard to find’ is no longer a valid excuse when you teach.” ~Zetta Elliott.

All over the blogosphere this week, you’re going to find the following action list created by Sarah Hamburg that delivers charges throughout the kidlit industry on what we can do to promote books by and about people of color and to amplify our demand for more books. The list is the result of a month long conversation on CCBC-net. This listserv routinely discusses issues that face the children’s and young adult book community but this past February, decided to focus on the issue of diversity. Highlighting the month were online discussions of When I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle and If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth. Debbie Reese did a wonderful job of framing the entire discussion.

From this discussion, I added material to my resource page.

I’m amending the list to add what has been provided by others that have posted this online. Continue to add to the list, continue to be part of the movement. DO SOMETHING!!

• Many of the ideas focused on personal activism: actively buying books representing a diverse range of voices; committing to ongoing challenges (Crystal Brunelle mentioned The Birthday Party Pledge, Diversity on the Shelf Challenge, and Latino/as in Kids’ Lit. Challenge); recommending and promoting diverse books to others when and wherever possible; asking for them at bookstores, schools and libraries; using social media in those efforts and to draw attention to issues of representation; writing reviews on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads; and stepping out of personal comfort zones to make connections and advocate on these issues.
• For writers and illustrators, people also suggested personal activism would include: stepping out of artistic comfort zones; consciously considering questions of representation, audience and perspective in one’s work (including whether the perspectives and voices of people of color tend to be explored/presented in a heavy context); soliciting and listening to feedback from members of the communities one is writing about when going outside one’s own culture; and also considering questions of cultural bias and representation while conducting research and evaluating sources.
• The same considerations hold true for those publishing, buying and using books with children, promoting books to parents and teachers, creating library and bookstore displays… etc. including whether those books receive the same quality and quantity of promotion, and whether they are somehow held apart from other books.
• Many came back to the importance of smaller presses in making space for new voices. This included Tim Tingle’s publishers Cinco Puntos Press and RoadRunner Press, and Lee & Low Books. (Would it be helpful to create a list to share here of independent publishers who are actively publishing “multicultural” books?) Lyn Miller-Lachmann talked about visiting smaller presses at conventions to order books and create buzz. Jason Low talked about “liking” Lee & Low on Facebook and using social media to promote them and their titles, and purchasing their books through independent bookstores. Are there other ways people can actively support small presses, or that smaller children’s publishers can perhaps share resources to further cross-promote with one another? (Some consortium, such as an umbrella website?)
• People also mentioned the importance of writers’ events and conferences, such as the Native American Literature Symposium, VONA Voices, the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the Muslim Voices Conference, the Comadres and Compadres Writers’ Conference, and the Carl Brandon Society. [I have additional annual events on my Resource Page]
• Along with such conferences, people talked about the possibility for individual outreach to writers/ artists who are working in other areas, but who seem like they might be suited to the children’s book field (like Debbie Reese introducing Eric Gansworth to Cheryl Klein.)
• It’s exciting to see new businesses forming, like Cake Literary and the Quill Shift Literary Agency (where you can sign up to be a reader.)
• People have also started an amazing array of blogs, websites and tumblrs that focus on aspects of diversity in children’s books. These include Diversity in YA, Rich in Color, American Indians in Children’s Literature, The Dark Fantastic, CBC Diversity, Lee & Low’s blog, Cynsations, CrazyQuiltEdi, BookDragon, Latinas for Latino Literature, Latin@s in Kitlit, All Brown All Around, Into the Wardrobe, Shannar Reed Miles-A Blerd Girl Writes, Bad NDNs, Miss Domino, Miss Domino’s FireEscape, Disability in Kidlit, Visibility Fiction, I’m Here I’m Queer What the Hell Do I Read?, The Naughty Book Kitties, Kristi’s Book Blog.  This list in is not all inclusive, but it’s a start. It does not include the multitude of authors of color who blog or allies who don’t devote their entire blog to diversity, but are there for the cause.
• In addition, people asked that “diversity” be an inclusive idea, and not limited to one group or set of groups.

Uma Krishnaswami has added several thoughtful additions to this list.

I’ll add just one other thing.

This is the season for state library associations to issue their calls for proposals. Getting to the big conferences is expensive. Librarians don’t have the funds nor do authors of color who often can’t get the backing from their publishers. Attending state library conferences is an important and often overlooked way authors can reach readers. Authors can proposal sessions, and librarians can reach out to authors to creative fun, interactive and informational sessions that get bring important resources (i.e., local authors) into local schools and libraries. Simply Bing your state’s library association (eg, Indiana Library Association) and find out what they’re looking for and when it’s due.

Today was my last day at the garden. It had to be cleared out before the end of the month, so I went over to pull everything out and thus end my growing season. I was once again gifted with little surprises. A few remaining red and green tomatoes, broccoli and  tender sprouts that grow from where I removed that large cabbage head earlier in the season.

The garden was just beginning!

The cucumber died out a while ago. They were my first reliable crop, so sweet, juicy and crisp. After tasting how much flavor they had, I realized why I hadn’t previously been fond of the vegetable: they’d had no flavor. My bell peppers didn’t do anything for months, but I left them in the ground to be surprised with a bumper crop of peppers in the past few weeks. I learned this year that turnips greens have been genetically modified so that turnip bottoms grow on separate plants. So, I was quite happy to find the baby turnips when I pulled the turnip greens (tops) from the ground.

I left the sage, basil, catnip and marigolds. They were worker plants and will thrive a bit long.

I’ve learned a lot from all these different plants. Sometimes it was just about the plants and sometimes it transferred to what I can know about people.

The garden today

I’ve learned a lot from the planters, too. The older, retired white Americans, my African American colleagues, the Filipinos, Ghanaians and Kenyans have all shared their harvest, their wisdom and their love of gardening. I started out gardening with my sister and loved the days when we would reminisce about my mom’s and grandmother’s gardens.  The drive over got to be more than we realized it would be, but I kept on, probably surprising both of us.  I’ve blogged and FBed about this garden way more than I ever thought I would. I think it filled a social, spiritual and creative gap for me. I’ll miss it, but life goes on.

So, I began my morning planning my day, my week and thinking of all the committee work I have in front of me, the growing pile of books I have growing for BFYA and the articles I need to write for tenure. My phone rang and all this seemed rather pointless.

My son and DIL

My son’s brother in law passed away last night. Kyle was in his mid 20s and because he suffered with cystic fibrosis, spent much of his life in a care facility. I have to confess I really didn’t know Kyle so, I’m really not sure why I’ve wilted into a puddle today. Perhaps it’s knowing my son and daughter-in-law are in pain and there is nothing I can do for them. It could be because I can relate to the horror my son’s MIL is going through having now lost her child, or maybe it’s just anger at the American health care system.

Kyle stayed at home as long has his physical needs could be met. Once he needed more care and equipment than could be available there, he was moved and that’s when his nightmares began. There have been broken bones, infections and so many other instances of what I’m going to call neglect. Clothing items, toys and trinkets bought for him often disappeared. They were “lost in the wash”. Now, this is one child with a ferocious mother. This is one child, one human child abused in care facilities right here in the US. There are certainly others all of whom are voiceless.

Who speaks for the mentally and physically challenged?  They’re not in YA fiction or children’s picture books, not on CNN, not in Starbucks commercials and not in Steven Spielberg’s latest movie. My, god, who would want to see about that? The thing is, we all have people with special needs in our families!

We do hear about the tremendous blessings felt by those who love and care for the less abled, but we never hear about the challenges they face finding or affording care or the abuse they face at the hands of their providers. Silly me, I thought people who worked with those who are disabled did it because of a special calling.

I would like to hope Obamacare with alleviate some of this, that it will get prenatal care to women so that many debilitating illnesses can be cured in vitro and so that better long term care can be there for those in need. I want to hope.

Kyle is gone. Kyle was a special one here in this garden of humanity. The sun shined on his smile. Some of the crap thrown on him was fertilizer, too much of it wasn’t. The best part of him lives in full bloom.

This post would have been up hours ago if I hadn’t been having Internet issues. Service just shouldn’t be so intermittent in one’s own home. I’m just sayin’

This may have been my last visit to the garden. I was surprised with a head of cabbage that I missed in previous visits and green peppers that just began to grow. I run through the photos on my phone and I’m just amazed at the growth that has taken place. This time, I didn’t even think to take any pictures. Growth happens whether we’re watching or not.

In recent years, there have been amazing blog posts that contain research relating to various facets of diversity in YA lit. Do publishers look at them? Are their decisions impacted at all by the data that is collected and analyzed? I work in a world that frowns on blogs and the information they relate as if it is all bogus forms of cheap entertainment. Knowing that, part of me wishes some of these research posts were submitted to journals, but I am so glad the information is made accessible to readers, authors, editors and publishers. Information is power. I think more impactful than where these reports are posted will be the replicated efforts that better document trends and hopefully change in the industry.

Can we try to collect these reports? Please leave a link to others in the comments.

• Annual Statistics Gathered by CBCC: Children’s Books by and About People of Color
• Diversity in Award Winning and Best Selling Young Adult Fiction
• Coretta Scott King Award Statistics
• Malinda Lo’s Diversity in BFYA
• Uncovering YA Book Covers
• Zetta Elliott’s 2012 List of MG/YA African American Books

I know there’s more! I’m sure Debbie Reese has collected figures, but I haven’t found anything…yet. Are there numbers on Latinos? Asians?

This 2008 article references a Brigham Young Study I’ll trying get a hold of this week.

The Brigham Young study analyzed the race, gender and family background of human characters in 82 Newbery-winning books through 2007. The analysis compared three periods, starting with 1922 through 1950, followed by the era in which the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, 1951 through 1979, and concluding with the 1980 through 2007 period.

Black and Hispanic protagonists became scarcer during the past 27 years. American Indian and Asian main characters increased in number — to two each.

Latino protagonists disappeared from 1980 through 2007 and black ones fell to two from a high of five between 1951 and 1979, the study found. White main characters rose to 19 from 18 in the same period.

The last book with a Hispanic protagonist to win a Newbery Medal was “Shadow of a Bull,” by Maia Wojciechowska, in 1965. The book dealt with a young Spanish boy’s struggle to follow in the footsteps of his slain bullfighter father.

Books by authors of color and with characters of color aren’t written just for people of color. (Corollary: Books by white people aren’t written just for white people.) So, POC books and authors fight the good fight and show up anywhere and everywhere that readers can be found such as at book signings, local library events and conferences. Readers of color have to show up to.

Think about it.

If publishers and editors don’t see us at conferences and signings, their notions that we don’t read or buy books will only be re-enforced. Show up to these events, inquire about your favorite author of color. I say this out loud to remind myself why I’m going to ALAN this year and why I’m especially thankful that author Lyn Miller-Lachmann proposed a panel with her, myself, Kekla Magoon and Rene Saldana Jr. I think I saw names of three other authors of color in the program. So disappointing! I really hope to see more people of color than that in the audience.

If you’re a librarian looking for ways to get involved in ALA and make a difference, this information is for you.

Committees with openings:

• 2015 Midwinter Marketing & Local Arrangements Taskforce
• 2015 Midwinter Trends in YA Presentation Planning Taskforce
• Alex Award
• Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
• Awards Nominating Committee
• Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Governance Nominating Committee
• Great Graphic Novels for Teens
• Morris Award
• Odyssey Award
• *Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
• Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

and the Committee Volunteer Form (which requires you to sign in):

https://www.ala.org/CFApps/Committee/volunteerform/volunteerform2.cfm?group1=YALSA

YALSA has dozens of ways for its members and supporters to get involved, including many options for virtual participation.  Whether you choose to volunteer to gain additional leadership opportunities, build your resume, increase exposure in the association or library community, or give back to the profession, YALSA relies on you to help support the association and make a positive difference in serving teens through libraries.

Whichever way you choose to get involved, we are committed to providing you with a meaningful experience.  If you have any questions, or would like additional information, we’re happy to help!  Email us at [email protected] or call us at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390.

And yes, dammit! There are malls in Kenya! And paved roads, car dealerships, universities, banks and yes, even book publishers! I remember when The Cold War between the US, Russia and China played out in Africa and now it’s this ‘war’ between… who is this between? Who are the players? These extremists in the East and in the West? It’s playing out all over Africa, from Mali to Kenya and to Somalia. Great people to follow from various locations across the continent to keep you aware of mostly literary and a few political occurences.

Storymoja Hay Fest ‏@SMHayFest

Kinna ‏@kinnareads

Writers Project Gh ‏@writersPG

African Library Proj ‏ @AfricanLibraryP

Jalada Africa ‏ @JaladaAfrica

I’m thinking about mooncakes and Moon Festival while my friends in Taiwan are just getting over a massive typhoon.

Bless the people of Kenya who are mourning and grieving. Bless the people of Taiwan who should be celebrating the autumn moon festival but are suffering from a massive typhoon. Even from these tragedies, there will eventually be growth; god willing!

Bless us!

Summer is ending and the garden is winding down. I’m harvesting fewer veggies and making plans to prepare amend my soil over the winter. Next

Fall Crop: Rutabaga

year, I simply want a wider variety of vegetables. I need to move to a plot that gets full sun in the early morning, but I’m not sure how well that will work out.

And, as the garden winds down the library is gearing up for the school year. This week I’ve got classes to teach and a graduate student open house to staff. I’m meeting at CANDLES Holocaust Museum to develop a docent program, finishing up a project with National Geographic to align some of their books to the Core Curriculum and I have this idea for an article that I want to develop. And, my BFYA pile is growing again! I admit it’s still out of control, but I’m planning strategic days at home over the next few months to do nothing but read. And, my weekends are completely and boringly void of everything except books.

I think most people want others to be aware of the work they do and the

Weekly Harvest of Books!

Internet is the perfect venue for sharing our successes. Have you ever done a search for someone and found nothing on them?

Do you ever search your own name? This morning, I used Google, Bing and Yahoo to search for myself. Using my full name, I got a lot of hits for obituaries of dead white women. I used to find curriculum units I prepared or programs I participated in but now, I suppose those things are just too old.

When I shortened my first name to “Edi” and eliminated “Edie” from my search, I got a few things related to my blog, a video that I think is about a singer in Latin h America and advice on how to dress like Edi Campbell, most probably the other Edi Campbell.

Now, I’m not trying to use the ‘net to claim my 3 minutes of fame but I do know that there is a very good chance I’ll be looking for another job or two. Face it, employers search to see what they can find out about us. About.me is a nice, new tool that allows users to create their own home page and establish their professional image. It would be good for students entering the job market as well as for the seasoned professional who has little else online.

Fall crop: cabbage sprouts

Get your name out there and make a difference in YA: apply to be a CYBILS judge.  Self nominations are due by 30 August.

The winners of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize were recently announced and make wonderful reading choices for young readers.

Don’t leave the young people out of the celebrations of the anniversary of the March on Washington. My favorite post to help bring them into the conversation is Don Tate’s listing of picture and nonfiction books. Throughout the year, educator’s can turn to ALA’s newly released Multi-ethnic books for the middle school curriculum.

We just can’t get around the fact that life is diverse, can we? So many different things to keep us busy!

Such a beautiful Sunday morning here in the Haute and all I can think about is dusting off the passport and finding a way to get back to France. Or Asia. Just somewhere distant!

I’m heading to NCAAL in Cincinnati this week and to Indy the next to see my children. School’s about ready to start which means I need to get my old projects completed and new ones begun. For me this year, it will be about promoting the Teaching Materials Collection and connecting more with the College of Education. We’re implementing a discovery layer for searching and I’ll be creating better plans to teach students how to be literate when selecting, evaluating and using resources.

I’m working with the campus nutritionist to eat healthier but now, it’s time to get back to the gym. My garden is coming along and I’ve been told that it’s time to consider planting winter crops. I’ve also just found out that the high lead content in the water here is not only a consideration for drinking water, but also showering: it leads to hair loss. Not a pleasant thought at all!

If you’re like me, you often wonder what inspires an author to write. NPR recently gave us a peek inside the sounds that stay with and influence Benjamin Alire Saenz.

Looking for a simply and innovative way to promote new books? Check out Vine.

Did you read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half a Yellow Sun? I’ts been made into a move and will be released this fall.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I visited Indiana Black Expo. While at that event, I couldn’t help but notice the number of organizations present that were directed at school reform. I wondered if these groups ever communication with one another to share information or data. Just think of the total amount of time, resources and money spent by these agencies. And it gets worse. The larger more influential reform projects are controlled by a group of billionaires. While they’re reshaping public education, they’re largely ineffective.

The current edition of The Drum: A Literary Magazine for Your Ears features Mitali Perkins reading her article “Writing Race in Novels”. Perkins works from a list of 10 basic ideas to relate when race ethnicity should be developed in a story.

Last week, I blogged a bit about food competitions and how a person’s color may affect the outcome. Note I said *may. Our reaction to skin color is often quite subtle. How often you notice when an event is all one race?

David Anthony Durham discusses why readers shouldn’t be color blind.

Nancy Tolson reacted to PBS’ all white list of YA Speculative Fiction by creating this list on Pinterest.

Ed Spicer shared Michael Benava’s Traditional Cultures Project on the YALSA listserv.

It tells the story of a family of nomadic water buffalo herders on their spring migration into the Himalayas of north India – through a 3-D map interface. So readers travel virtually over the terrain, stopping at points along the migration route to read about – and see pictures of – what’s happening at each stage of the journey.  The people are truly amazing; their way of life is fascinating and surprising; and the challenges they confront as their traditional forest-dwelling culture collides with the modern world are troubling in a twisted, ironic kind of way. Here’s the link: Van Gujjar Migration

Sunday morning. Enjoy your reading!

I put down roots in the Haute this weekend. We’ve finally had a sustained break from all the rain and hopefully there will be no more morning frost so I got vegetables and herbs planted in my garden.

There are a couple of pieces of land close to campus that have been divided into plots for community members to grow crops each summer. Sounds nice, huh? Well, it gets even better! There are tool sheds on the grounds with gardening implements and wheel barrows. Leaf mulch and horse manure mulch is available and area farmers provide inexpensive straw to help the soil retain moisture. This wonderful deal isn’t free. There are dates by which certain progress must be made and a portion of the harvest must be donated to the local food agency. Nope, nothing is free, but this comes awfully close!

My sister drives over from Indy and we’re farming together. We’ve planted cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes (too many!), sweet and hot peppers, cucumbers, turnip greens, okra, sage, dill, fennel, basil and catnip. While the herbs will be a welcome part of the harvest, they’re also strategically placed in the garden to ward off pests.

I’ll be balancing my time at the garden with the time needed to finish the few dozen books I have to finish for BFYA which will be at ALA in a few short weeks. I won’t do much there other than committee meetings and catching up with people I’ve probably never met before. If you’re going to be there, please let me know!

I do plan to see Kathy aka The Brain Lair and I’ll congratulate her in person for being named her local Teacher of the Year. This is an awesome accomplishment for any educator but, especially for media specialists/school librarians who most people don’t recognize as such. From the article, from knowing all the great things Kathy does, I know she’s more than deserved this award!

I never give a second thought about what I share here. I find information I enjoy and I look forward to sharing it. When it comes to the give-a-way on Anali’s First Amendment, I have had second thoughts. I so want to win one of those prizes that I hate to limit my chances! But I will, not only for the sake of my readers but also to help draw more support to The Arc.

Anali’s First Amendment is hosting the All Aboard the Arc annual fund raiser to benefit The Arc of Massachusetts, which serves men, women and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The blog has much more information about the Arc and ways you can donate to support this worthy cause. To help bring attention, there’s a giveaway and it ends Monday 20 May.

• Firehouse Subs gift cards
• Greyston Baker brownies
• The Greyston Bakery Cookbook

Author Meg Medina (Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass) also recently blogged about one of her passions, Partners in Print, an organization which supports literacy development mostly for ENL students. In the post, Medina provides unique insights into what it’s like being bilingual.

I have a co-worker from Congo who often tells me what a disadvantage she has because she’s not a native English speaker. (I’m smiling because she often reads these posts.) She’s lived here some 40 odd years, but still translates in her mind. One wouldn’t know this because she never misses a beat, no matter it be a technical cataloging question or a casual conversation filled with U.S. idioms.

Most native born Americans only speak one language like me and will have a difficult time understanding the difficulties these adults and these students, face. I am so amazed by their linguistic abilities, that I don’t see the problems. Thanks to Medina’s post, I understand more.

Don’t miss artist Jimmy Liao  (The sound of color )in the Gallery on the PaperTigers website.

Have you looked at Google+Hangouts yet? Again I say: Google concerns me. I was listening to a piece about Google on NPR this past week about their new voice search. The story also mentioned Google Travel which will read information from peoples’ photos to help plan vacations. They’ll look at both faces and places to determine your ultimate spot. One more way for them to collect data. No, I’ll not be using an Android, Google Chrome or Google Glass. I want to think I’m making you work for my information.

I don’t watch Scandal; I’m an Elementary girl. I think it’s interesting that while Kerry Washington, an African American woman, can be promoted for her sexuality, Lucy Lui, an Asian American woman, cannot. Neither can Sandra Oh who preceeds Scandal in Grey’s Anatomy. Read Lucy Lui on this topic :” I kind of got pushed out of both categories. It’s a very strange place to be. You’re not Asian enough and then you’re not American enough, so it gets really frustrating.” MORE

If you have time to up your professional reading this summer, don’t miss Voya’s 5 Foot Bookshelf: Essential Books for Professionals Who Serve Teens.

I’m so glad to be getting my hands in the soil! So thankful to be growing my own food and for the people I’m meeting in the process. I’ve found one more thing to help fill my summers days, but there’s always time for the things we want to do!

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Steve Jobs

CONGRATULATIONS, COURTNEY YOUNG, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT ELECT!

Do chefs and other food professionals remain able to enjoy their parents and grandparents home cooking?

I’m watching Guy Fieri cook with his mom today and these are his recipes, he’s in charge. Makes me wonder if he still likes his mom’s cooking.

He’s not the only one with his mom on the show, they’ve been on Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and many, many other shows. There are the Mother’s Day sales, coupons, flower displays… So much to celebrate the holiday.

Does everyone do that much Mother’s Day celebrating with their family?

I’ve finally come to learn that not so many people do the New Years Eve parties. Most people I’ve talked to actually do quiet evenings at home or church. Yet, we would be led to believe everyone goes to parties. Perhaps it’s only the 10%.

Last Christmas, I brought a friend from Egypt to my sister’s home for the holiday. She was excited as this was her first Christmas dinner and, she was really looking forward to the singing. Singing?? Yes, in the movies everyone does Christmas carols. I don’t know anyone who does that, or who goes Christmas caroling! Oh, sure there are people who do those things, but those practices aren’t as pervasive and Hollywood makes people believe.

I hate to admit how many books I still have to read for BFYA. I should not be writing this post, should not have gone to the store this morning, should not be doing anything other than reading! I’ve received some very interesting boxes lately and see so many books I’d love to pick up, but I am required to have read everything nominated to the committee before we meet in June.

I have to say I’m really disappointed in the lack of ethnic diversity in the books I’ve received. Scholastic has stood out as the company whose selection has been the most multicultural.

While I look for ethnic representation, I am so aware of diversity in the broad sense while reading these books. I’ve seen very few books by male authors or with male protagonists. The numbers of books with autistic characters is growing. There are quite a few mysteries, a lot of historical fiction and paranormal seems to be dwindling. There is always death. There is little religion or spirituality and I find that intriguing considering the searching for meaning that young adults do.

There is a fair amount of LGBT, a surprising amount of animals and surprising few talents (excluding paranormal) or crafts.

There is violence, death, depression, bullying and abduction.  The trend is to deal with the act more than the consequences. Call me a prude, but I can’t bear to live through another mass shooting, stabbing or kidnapping; I don’t think access to guns is the root cause. I can raise this issue, but not let it deter me from recognizing a good book.

Diversity would extend to books that appeal to 13 year olds as well as to 18+, to books that recognize those who are embarrassed to read profanity as much as those who read expecting it. There are low ability readers and those who need complex, intricate story lines. Did I mention there is a lot of death?

Most librarians know this already and work hard to find all these different books, but the ones that are well written? I’ll be reading non-stop through 28 June to find them!

Jeffrey Veregge

Cynthia Leitich Smith just tweeted this fabulous collection of superhero art drawn in a traditional Native American style. The artist, Jeffrey Veregge was inspired by traditional coastal Salish art.

I’m just back from the  ACRL annual conference in Indy and continue to be amazed by the things librarians are doing. No doubt, the presentations over the past few days would be very much at home in any tech conference anywhere in the world. I spent my breaks reading through YA books for BFYA, tweeted through sessions on data management and information literacy and networked with librarians discussing library space, growing reference services and data curation. While now is the time to process this information, I’ll spend the afternoon delivering my first program at ISU. We received a Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journey grant from the NEH and ALA and today is the program to present the materials. There will be one panel discussing Muslim contributions to the world, and another consisting of students discussing their journey to Terre Haute. I hated being gone a week before this program because it was down to that final, crucial detail of marketing. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

Latinas4Latino Literature have organized a blog hop!  “Each day, starting on April 10th (next Wednesday), a different Latina blogger will be hosting a different Latino children’s book author and/or illustrator. “

#rockthedrop is coming! 18 April (this Thursday!!) is the day for you to print a label found on the ReaderGirlz blog page, affix it to a YA book and then leave that book for a teen to find, read and enjoy!

Al Roker is looking for teens 13-16 to join his book club.

Blogging has taught me to be selective with my words. Not so much because 10 or 15 people may actually read them but because I want to be accurate in how I express myself and I don’t want to be boring. As an example, I don’t want to just state that a book is ‘good’ or to find creative ways to state that it’s enjoyable. I want to describe why it appealed to me, perhaps similar to Steph Su because I’ve improved my ability to analyze literature as much as my ability to proof my own writing.

Words embody our thoughts and emotions are powerful in the effect they have on us, the actions they provoke. Such it is with ‘diversity’ and ‘social justice’. Says Paul Gorski

What confuses me even more than inclusive excellence, though, is what feels like a sudden caché associated with “social justice.” I can remember when those of us who built our lifework around social justice were booted so far to the margins by people who were all about “diversity” that we found clever ways to mask our intentions in job interviews, campus programs, and conference proposals. Instead, it was intercultural this and intergroup that or the six then seven then nine strands of diversity. And if you were a person of color or queer or had some other identity that frightened the shuddering straight white Christian masses, you hardly could say “racism” without being labeled a radical. That’s still true in many contexts, actually.

Here, I clearly and consistently blog about ethnic diversity although I know that in promoting books by authors of color, I achieve no justice if I don’t acknowledge the need for ALL young people to find themselves represented in the books they read and enjoy.

I used to have a poster in my classroom that said “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can really hurt me”. Words are painful when they are carelessly directed at us, but also when they ignore us. I love this poem which BlackGirlsRock posted on Twitter. I admire this young girl’s attitude! She has a sense of confidence that comes from others who have worked for justice on her behalf. We need more superheros!

I knew earlier this week that I’d be blogging today so, when I work up, my mind was in composition mode. I was so busy thinking about what I would write that the empty plastic water bottle went into the sink rather than the trash and a fork went into the oatmeal. NPR did straighten out my attention for a while when they discussed new information that is being found regarding Emmett Till’s murder. In the grand scheme of things, his brutal murder didn’t occur that long ago. It was during our modern times when information could be easily recorded and distributed. Records from the trial disappeared ages ago and those who witnessed the courtroom scenes are still being sought after to find out what happened in that room. I remember my time down there in the Delta, visiting those historic sites and meeting people who were there then. I’d love to take students down there. One real difference in being an academic library rather than a school librarian is a diminished access to students.

I have to wonder that if things from that time could disappear so easily, now secure is our information today when we’re encouraged to place our images, music and writings in cloud space that it owned by someone else. We argue debate whether to plan new purchases for print books or ebooks as if personal comfort is the key factor. Who owns those ebooks and journal articles (even after we think we’ve purchased them) and how accessible ebooks will be as platforms change over time are things we really need to question. Granted, ebooks do provide greater accessibility to information for those with reading difficulties.

GoogleReader is gone. Other RSS aggregators disappeared as folk turned to GoogleReader and now, it’s disappearing. Soon, iGoogle, a Google homepage that also serves as an aggregator will be gone, too. iGoogle is very similar to MyYahoo, which still functions. I’ve decided to use Feedly to gather my RSS feeds and I’m finding it a bit clunky and it seems I’ve lost some of my favorite blogs. I need to spend some time finding them again, tweaking the site and creating a display that makes sense to me. At the same time, I’m still wondering about WordPress and blogging. Is there future limited? Well, in this day and age, it certainly is, but just how limited and, what next?

Maybe I’d feel better about the lifespan of WordPress if they sold out to Facebook or Amazon. By the way, today is the last day to get a free LibraryThing account if you’re disappointed in the GoodReads takeover. My LibraryThing account is so old that I don’t remember either the username or password! Something else to add to the ‘to do’ list!

The space between ebooks, Google and Amazon has me wondering about the data, both my personal data and that which becomes available to me,  these giants access. As Marc Aronson states  “There are obviously privacy concerns here, concerns about how we are seeing reading (though reading has been collective at other times in its history, indeed one debate among historians of reading is exactly when reading shifted from being primarily oral to primarily silent), and concerns about overvaluing the now.”

Yet and still, basic Internet access remains a critical issue. To the rescue is Connect2Create, a campaign to get major Internet companies to provide discount service, equipment and training to low income families in need. Mindshift writes “The program offers low-cost devices and Internet service, as well as access to digital literacy training programs around the country, hoping to give access to the estimated 100 million Americans who have no broadband connection at home and another 62 million who don’t use the Internet at all.”

Tarie recently share information on the Bangkok Book Awards: ” Each shortlist includes at least one book by a Thai author and one book by an international author, books set in different parts of Thailand, and at least one book in translation from Thai. You can check out the picture book shortlist here.“

From Debbie Reese  “Minnesota Public Radio has a story up today that showcases how Heid Erdrich is using video format for her poetry. The video they have up is STUNNING!”

I visit Anali’s First Amendment for things like this single serving cheesecake (I gain weight just from her yummy photos!) but I end up finding this opportunity to teach writing in Ghana. I would so love to do that, even more than the cheesecake!

I’ll be posting April’s new releases by authors of color this week! One book I’ve previously missed is Justin Scott Parr’s Sage Carrington, 8^th Grade Science Slueth. Such a cute book!

I hear we’re expecting a snow and rain mix tomorrow. I really hope this slow to warm spring means fewer and milder spring storms.

I hope you enjoy your week ahead!

I know I’ve waited too long to write a blog post when all the tabs with sites I was saving to reference are closed. I took spring break this year, a chance to catch up on a few things as the season is suppose to be changing to the warmer, longer days of spring. The week began with much discussion about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In. I think women tried to find reason not to connect with Sandberg’s message. For me, it’s been the tiny amount of time I’ve spent in corporate America and the fact that I make every effort to remove myself from leadership and career advancement as possible. I’m an introvert and I prefer to fly off radar.

But, Sandberg’s message was persistent from news shows to talk shows and I kept listening: Lean in, be part of the conversation. I thought about my career as a librarian and the perception of librarians as quiet little women. I’ve worked as a Media Director/Head Librarian in an administrative position where I was not considered part of the administrative team. In academia librarians are sometimes tenured faculty, sometimes not. Even when employed as tenured faculty, there is a separate work calendar for librarians. We’re still marked the first Asian, first Native American… librarians in libraries across the country. That people of color are entering the profession is an important thing, but still counting firsts?

 People like Kirsten Weaver, Wei Cen, 

Jennifer Himmelreich

and Ana Elisa De Campos Salles (all 2013 ALA Emerging Leaders) are quiet beyond the image too many have of people who work in libraries. They definitely are people who are leaning into discussions about patron driven acquisition of books, open access of information, expanding digital content, freedom of information and what new platforms to incorporate into the library’s collection.  

Next Saturday, I’ll be in Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue University) for the Indiana Network of Black Librarian’s spring meeting. While there, we’ll hear from  Clyde Hughes, a freelance journalist with the Lafayette Journal & Courier who will share his insights regarding research, black history, and diversity.  Research remains core to what I do and it will be interesting to hear how other professions address this activity.

I’ve been watching people since Sandberg’s discussion began. It’s one thing to show up at the table, but yet another to lean into the conversation. Leaning in takes courage. I would love to say ‘I’m too old for this’ but aging gives one all the tools necessary to be courageous; not only to make a move, but to know when it is the right move to make. Women couldn’t always afford to consider such an option.

I’ve just noticed that Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo have resurrected the Diversity in YA blog, this time on Tumblr. I noted Tumblr because Google Reader is about to fade away and this means finding a new aggregator for my rss feads. I’m looking at Feedly, but also reframing (I like that word, ‘reframing’) the problem to consider how to follow blogs, if not whether it should even be about blogs. I’ve avoided Google+, but I’m going to explore both it and Tubmlr and decide what I want choices I’ll make.

I’m back to work tomorrow and I’ll jump right into the thick of things! I’m meeting to finalize plans for a program to present materials from the ALA/NEH Muslim Journey Bookshelf to the university community and then to take part in my library’s conversations as we re-invent ourselves. I suppose you could say we’re emerging; We’re reframing; We’re leaning in. I guess we all have to realize at some point that if we want to remain relevant, we can’t just go with the flow; we have to make the opportunity to lean in

“Live where you fear to live. Be notorious.”

I didn’t know until last night that the Harbaughs were born in Toledo, Ohio. No wonder they’re so good! (Yes, Toledo is my hometown.)

When the Colts lost early in the playoffs, all my attention turned to the 49ers. You could call me a fair weather fan of the Niners, thanks to my oldest son. I think he has been a fan of the Niners ever since he knew what football was and, when I think back to him as a boy I vision him in his cardinal red and metallic gold coat, hat, scarf, sweatshirt and/or one of many t-shirts that were part of his wardrobe. It may be just a game, and he may be just a fan but his loyalty to that team is mighty impressive. And, because of that I’m rooting for them, too.

Well, I’ll be rooting for them after I attend the Taiwanese New Year celebration on campus. I met a student who is from the town in Taiwan where I used to live and she was kind enough to gift me with a ticket. I’ll be surprising her with a red envelope. My fingers are crossed for beef noodles.

I really can’t believe there are only 6 books by authors of color released this month. I’m really looking forward to the emails and comments telling me of the titles I’ve missed.

14 February is International Book Giving Day

A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy usually posts a comprehensive list of African American non-fiction in February. She recently posted the winners of the American Indian Youth Literature Award.

The Brown Bookshelf’s 28 Days Later is underway. MG/YA authors will include

Feb. 1 – Malaika Rose Stanley (MG)

Feb. 3 – Alaya Dawn Johnson – (YA)

Feb. 5 – Glennette Tilley Turner – (MG)

Feb. 6 – Traci L. Jones – (YA)

Feb. 8 – Brian F. Walker – (YA)

Feb. 9 – Veronica Chambers – (MG)

Feb. 10 – B.A. Binns (YA)

Feb. 12 – Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams – (MG)

Feb. 13 – Octavia Butler – (YA )

Feb. 15 – Lyah Beth LeFlore – (YA)

Feb. 17 – Arna Bontemps – (MG)

Feb. 18 – Jasmine Richards – (MG)

Feb. 21 – Nalo Hopkinson – (YA)

Feb. 24 – Linda Tarrant-Reid – (MG)

Feb. 26 – Chudney Ross – (MG)

Feb. 28 – Jaime Reed – (YA)

Indeed, another impressive list of vanguard, established and new talents!

If you’re looking for a way to get one of these authors to visit your school or library, you might consider the Amber Brown Grant or a Targets Arts Grant.

Have you read Wasafiri? Wasafiri is Wasafiri is a literary magazine at the forefront in mapping new landscapes in contemporary international literature today. The current issue highlights global youth culture.

YALSA is about to make spring committee appointments. If you’re a YALSA member, do think about getting involved! All I did to get begin working with them was to complete an application.

My term with the YALSA’s Best Fiction in Young Adult selection committee officially began today and it begins with the question: How do you define ‘a good book’? I think it would be easier to agree on a definition of a good book than it will be to agree on a good book itself.

Here’s hoping you (and the Niners) have a good week!

School Library Journal recently published “Not a Lack of Latino Lit for Kids, but a Lack of Awareness”.

I do agree that there is a lack of awareness. Every discussion list I belong to routinely has someone asking for books that will be “of interest to Latino teens”. Which of course implies that the only people reading about Latinos are Latinos, and that Latinos will read nothing else. But, these requests are so constant that it makes one wonder why it is so difficult for people to find books with Latinos (or any people of color) and what happened to prompt the particular request.

I predict that if you watch your lists next month next month, you’ll see an abundance of requests for African American literature.

A lack of awareness is a huge issue, not doubt. If people were paying attention, they’d be more aware of the small number of Latino books that are published each year, and the small amount of themes and genre that are included in this number. I have not seen official numbers for 2012, but I found all of 17 MG and YA books published in 2012. I expect this number to be low, assuming I’ve missed several books by some of the smaller publishers. Even if I missed 20 books, that means there were 37 Latino books published in 2012.

Between 2010 and 2011 the Latino population grew 2.5%. I don’t think that 2.5% of all the MG and YA books published last year either written by Latino authors or featured Latino characters.

18% of the US population is Latino and this is the largest ethnic population in the US.

I really think the lack of books, the lack of published Latino authors and the lack of Latino protagonists and books in Spanish is a serious concern.

You know that Argo is based on a true story, right? Well, did you know that the main character of the movie, (of the story!), is Antonio Mendez, a Mexican American and multiethnic CIA agent? While this role could have gone to one of many Latino actors, Ben Affleck chose to play this role himself.

The APALA blog recently posted an interview with library leader Judy Lee who works in Riverside, CA. Lee is interviewed regarding her efforts to save her community’s Chinatown. She states Once the site is protected, I personally would like to see the group continue the cultural education mission for the community. This could include historical research and work to connect to a larger network of educators concerned with Chinese American and Asian American cultural education and preservation.

Amazon is making news with their two new children’s imprints.

It has been announced that Louise Erdrich’s Chikadee won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. This makes Erdrich’s second time winning this prestigious award. Congratulations!!

I know what should really have me exciting this week are the ALA youth media awards (and I will be listening as the winners are announced) but, what really, really has me excited is the release of the Surface Pro on 9 February. I’ve been waiting for this since I first learned about the Surface and the greater functionality of the Pro over the RT and yes, over the iPad.

The Hub will stream the ALA awards live on Monday at 7:45 PST.

Let’s go into this new week with our eyes open, aware of all that makes up our diverse and wonderful world!

Good afternoon!

My Colts aren’t doing too well right now, so it’s a pretty good time to write this post.

2012 is winding down, isn’t it? For me, it’s been quite a full year with a move, a new job and opportunities that have grown from that. Small town life is much quieter. Fewer things going on and less to do yet as a nation, we’ve had a rather loud and violent year.

My word for 2012 was ‘tender’. I will struggle with that one for a while but I’m glad I chose a word, a concept, rather than a resolution. I’ll be choosing another word for 2013. I’ll paint it on one of my polished rocks and I’ll see where that word takes me next year.

Words are powerful and even more so when combined to become stories that connect us and become part of us. I use words to grow on and want that same opportunity for everyone. Growth comes from diversity, too, don’t you think? So, I wonder why we’re seeing so few books by authors of color this year? With so many students not reading, not wanting to read, how can publishers limit the diversity of what is available? We all choose to read when we’re able to find books we want to read!

2013 will still find me fighting the good fight!

I don’t know that I’ll be doing as much on my blog next year, though. I’ve been selected to be on the Best Fiction for Young Adults selection committee and in addition to doing a heckofalot of reading, I’ll be working with my committee to list books each month that hopefully will help librarians and educators find the best books possible for YA readers. As a member of this committee, I will not be blogging reviews of any books that are eligible for this distinction and that includes any YA fiction published from Oct 2012-Dec 2013. I will continue to announce book released by authors of color, publish summaries, have Male Monday and Trailer Saturday features and a few other miscellaneous posts as well. And, I may from time to time post reviews of non-fiction books or books that are not released during the time under consideration. I may also occasionally post about the BFYA committee work. We will meet at ALA in Chicago and at Midwinter 2014 in Boston and this is one selection committee that members of the public are welcomed to attend so I hope to see you there!

I’ll be busy with conferences, too! I’ll be presenting at the McConnell Conference in Kentucky with Ashley Hope Perez and at the National Council of African-American Librarians Conference in Cincinnati with Zetta Elliott and David Miller. I’ve got children to visit in Georgia, California and New Mexico and I hope to make it to see each one of them.

I don’t know what my word will be for 2013. I don’t know if it will keep me Focused? Searching? Centered? Laughing? Speaking out? I hope I know it when it presents itself!

What are you planning for 2013?

I had to get up and turn the heat up before starting this post. It is definitely getting colder outside. Yesterday was Cookies and Cocktails and I spent the day baking cookies with my sister. No doubt it was a long, long day but it’s a tradition we do not want to give up any time soon. I’ve boxes wrapped and ready to ship off to family and friends who I hope will enjoy eating them as much as we did baking them! I’ve also contacted several people for my annual Cookie Traditions posts and hopefully those will begin rolling in soon.

Zetta Elliott has beem working on completing her annual list of MG and YA books by African American authors.

In doing this work, Zetta urged me to collate my list according to ethnicity so that we can see how many books were compiled by Native Americans, Asian Americans and Latino/as as well. I cleaned up my list removing nonfiction titles and a few that I decided are too young for MG readers and categorized the books I found. I added the titles I didn’t have that Zetta found and some from Debbie Reese as well. I am sure there are books written by authors of color and published by traditional publishers that I have missed, and hope that you will mention them in the comments.

Does this matter? Of course, it does. I’ve been saying for months the numbers and dropping and I’d like to figure out why, particularly since the overall number of children’s books is up this year. This year we say Neesha Meminger, L. Divine and B.A. Binns all self publish. Don’t you think its time for another YA from Cindy Pon? Alex Sanchez? Medeia Shariff? Dia Reeves?

“In the Margins Committee  

What is it?  A group of librarians creating a committee to seek out and highlight books:  preschool through adult fiction and non-fiction titles of high-interest appeal to boys or girls, ages 9-18  who may fit into one or all of the following categories:

 multicultural (primarily African American and Latino)  from a street culture  in restrictive custody  reluctant readers  What does it do?  The committee will select and review the best books of the year, specifically for the population listed above. Titles of interest will be unusual, possibly unreviewed,  have multicultural characters, dealing with difficult situations including (but not limited to) street life, marginalized populations, crime, justice, war, violence, abuse, addiction, etc. The first year we will also review a few older titles that may not have been reviewed previously but which are deserving of attention.

 Committee membership and requirements:   research and nominate titles that are self published, independently and published by small presses  provide written review of books, and read for special content for detention facilities  read all nominated titles  work with or do outreach to teens in custody and/or from street culture.  get feedback from at least 3-10 teens on each title  actively participate in email discussions  meet 1-4 times a year via video conferencing and/or in person  opportunity to blog in column about your and your youth’s experiences with a certain title or author  Don’t delay – Apply today!”

No doubt incarcerated teens need books which will interest them as these teens often have incredibly poor reading skills. And I think the intent of this committee is to review books for those who work with incarcerated teens.  If I read correctly, these reviews will appear in SLJ as the chair of the In the Margins Committee now has a blog on SLJ’s site. Will this blog be balanced with one that gives a wider representation to African American and Latino (and Native American and Asian American) literature?  What effort will SLJ make to educate readers about the vast contrtibutions writers of color make to teen literature and the even broader reading preferences of teens of color?

This is what the CCBC reported  for 2011:  We received approximately 3,400 books at the CCBC in 2011. Of those,

• 123 books had significant African or African American content

• 79 books were by Black authors and/or illustrators

• 28 books had American Indian themes, topics, or characters

• 12 books were by American Indian authors and/or illustrators

• 91 books had significant Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content

• 76 books were by authors and/or illustrators of Asian/Pacific heritage

• 58 books had significant Latino content

• 52 books were by Latino authors and/or illustrators

This is what I found so far for 2012.

MULTI-ETHNIC

1. Diverse Energies edited by Tobias Buchnell and Joe Monti; Tu Books, November

NATIVE AMERICAN
1. Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith, illus. by Blake Henry;Clarion Books,  Feb. 22
2. Outcasts of River Falls: sequel to Belle of Batoche by Jaqueline Guest; Regina Coteau Books for Kids, 1 Apr
3. Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith; Candlewick Press; 14 Feb

ASIAN AMERICAN
1. The friendship matchmater by Randa Abdel-Fattah; Frances Lincoln, 6 Sept
2. What’s Left of Me: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book One by Kat Zhang; Harper Collins, 18 September MG
3. Adaptation by Malinda Lo; Litte, Brown Books for Young Readers 18 Sept
4. Ash Mistry and the savage fortress by Sadwat Chadda; Harper Collins, October
5. The girl who lept through time  by Yasutaka Tsutsui and David Karashima; Alma Books 1 Sept
6. Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) by Lisa Yee and Dan Santant;  Scholastic, 1 Aug
7. A beautiful lie  by Irfan Master; Albert Whitman & Company, 1 August
8. The choke artist: confessions of a chronic underachiever by David Yoo; Grand Central, 19 June
9. Reincarnation (Legend of Snow Wolf series) by Fred Lit Yu; China Books,   1 June
10. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons; Tor, 2012
11.     Dumpling Days by Grace Lin; Little Brown Books for Young Readers; 2 Jan
12.    Tina’s mouth: an existential comic diary by Keshni Kashyap and Mari Araki; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 3 January
13.     The whole story of half a girl by Veera Hirandandani; Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 2012
14.     Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani; HarperTeen; 17 Jan
15. Fair Coin  by E. C. Myers; Pyr, 27 March
16. Another Jekyl another Hyde  by Daniel and Dina Nayeri; 27  March, Candlewick
17. The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda; St Martin’s  Griffin, Apr. 19
18. The mapmaker and the Ghost by Sarvenaz Tash; Walker Book Childrens, 24 April

LATINO/A
1. A Thunderous Whisper by Christina Diaz Gonzalez; Knopf Books for Young Readers 9 October
2. Summer of the Mariposas by Guadelupe Garcia McCall; Tu Books, October
3. BorderTown #4: No Second Chances by Malin Alegria; Scholastic Nov.
4. The revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano; Scholastic, 1 Sept
5. Con carino/Love Amalia by Alma Flor Ada; Atheneum Books for Young Readers; 10 July
6.  Choke by Diana Lopez; Point; 12 July
7. Border Town #2: Quince Clash by Malin Alegria; Scholastic, 1 July
8. Bordertown #1 Crossing the line  by Malin Alegria; Scholastic, May MG
9. Body Slammed! by Ray Villareal; Pinata Books, 30 Apr
10.     Border Town#1: Crossing the line by Malin Alegria; Scholastic 1 May
11.     Prom dates to die for by Kelly Parra; Buzz Books; 1 May
12. Irises  by Francisco X. Stork; Authur A. Levine; Jan 2012
13.     Facts of life: stories by Gary Soto; Graphia, January
14.     The glass collector by Anna Perera; Albert Whitman and Co. 1 Feb
15. Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz; Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 21 Feb
16. The girl who could silence the wind by Meg Medina; Candlewick, 13 March
17. The Temptation: A Kindred Novel by Alisa Valdes; HarperTeen, Apr. 4

AFRICAN AMERICAN
1. Hollywood High by Ni Ni Simone and Amir Abrams; Kensington 12 Sept
2. No Boyz Allowed by Ni-Ni Simone; Dafina Books, 31 July
3. Hollywood High by Ni-Ni Simone and Amir Abrams, Dafina Books, 25 Sept
4. Pinned by Sharon Flake; Scholastic, 1 October MG
5. Time to Shine by Nikki Carter; Dafina Books, 30 Oct
6. Crazy Love by Amir Abrams; Dafina Books, 27 Nov
7. Dork Diaries 5: Tales from a not so smart miss know it all by Rachel Renee Russell; Aladdin, October
8. Fading Amber: The cambion chronicles #3 by Jaime Reed; K’Teen Dafina 26 December
9. Kiki doin’ it (Juicy Central)  Saddleback, 1 Sept
10. Marnyke: the fake date  (Juicy Central); Saddleback
11. Tia Diva, (Juicy Central) Saddleback Sept
12. Sherise Stalked,(Juicy Central) Saddleback, Sept.
13. Nishell Tempted by Stephanie Perry Moore (Juicy Central); Saddleback, 1 Sept
14. Settle down/be real Cheer Drama/Baller Swag; Lockwood High Series by Stephanie Perry Moore; Saddleback
15. The diary of B. B. Bright possible princess by Alice Randall, Caroline Randall Williams and Shadra Strickland (illustrator); Turner Publishing 4 Sept
16. Charly’s Epic Fiasco by Kelli London, Dafina Books, 28 Aug
17.     A Certain October by Angela Johnson; Simon and Schuster; August
18.     Denim diaries 6 Lying to live by Darrian Lee; Urban Books, 28 August
19.     Fire in the Streets by Kekla Magoon; Aladdin, August
20.     The Cruisers 3: A star is born by Walter Dean Myers; Scholastic 1 Aug
21.     Dork diaries 4: Tales from a not so graceful ice princess by Rachel Renee Russell; Aladdin, June
22.      Back to me by Earl Sewll; Kimani Tru 1 July
23. Always upbeat Cheer Drama (Lockwood High Series)by Stephanie Perry Moore; Saddleback, 1 June
24.     Keep jumping/no hating Cheer Drama (Lockwood High Series) by Stephanie Perry Moore; Saddleback 1 June
25.     Settle down/be real Cheer Drama (Lockwood High Series)by Stephanie Perry Moore; Saddleback 1 June
26.     Yell out/Do you Cheer Drama (Lockwood High Series) by Stephanie Perry Moore; Saddleback 1 June
27.     Back to me  by Earl Sewell; Kimani Tru; 19 June
28.     Lone bean by Chudney Ross; Amistad, June
29. Download Drama  by Celeste O. Norfleet; Kimani Tru, May 20
30.     37 Things I Love (In No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon; Henry Holt, May 3
31.     Happy families  by Tanita Davis; Knopf Books for Young Readers, 8 May
32.     Burning Emerald: The Cambion Chronicles #2 by Jaime Reed; K-Teen/Dafina; May
33. Creeping with the enemy (Langdon Prep)by Kimberyly Reid; Dafina, 24 April
34. Black Boy White School by Brian F. Walker; HarperTeen 3 Jan
35.     The mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis; Wendy A. Lamb Books, January MG
36.     The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards; HarperCollins, 17 Jan
37.     Best shot in the west: the adventures of Nat Love by Patricia C. McKissack, Frederick L. McKissack and Randy Duburke; Chronicle Books,  18 January GRAPHIC NOVEL
38.     Mesmerize  by Artist Arthur; Kimani Tru, January
39.     The clone codes #3: the visitors by Patricia C. McKissack, Fredrick McKissack and Pat McKissack; Scholastic, 1 February
40.     Beneath a meth moon  by Jacqueline Woodson; Nancy Paulsen Books, February
41.     No crystal stair  by Vaunda Michaux Nelson; Carolrhoda Press, February
42.     DJ Rising by Love Maia; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 6 Feb
43. Power Hitter  by M. C. Higgins; Darby Creek Pub, March
44. Boyfriend season: Cali boys  by Kelli London; K’Teen, 27 March
45. Creeping with the enemy (Langdon Prep)by Kimberyly Reid; Dafina, 24 April
46. All the right stuff  by Walter Dean Myers; Amistad, 24 April
47. The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson;  Margaret K. McElderry Books , 17 April
48. On the flip side: A fab life novel #4 by Nikki Carter; KTeen Dafina; 28 February
49. Ship of souls by Zetta Elliott; AmazonEncore, 28 Feb
50. Bad boy by Dream Jordan; St. Martin Griffin, 28 Feb
51. The Agency 3: Traitor in the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee; Candelwick, 28 Feb

What’s missing??

Welcome, November 2012, officially proclaimed Native American Heritage Month. November also means ALAN!!! VEGAS!!! I can’t wait! My clock fell behind this morning and once again, I wonder who came up with this nonsense and why!

Regardless, I will vote this Tuesday!

The call for proposals for presentations at the 8th annual BCALA conference has been extended to 19 November.

PaperTigers continues to celebrate its 10th year with themed booklists. One of my recent favs is Rukhsana Khan’s list of religious themed books.  They’ve even added a Facebook page to continue the celebration there!

Right now, I’m multitasking because I’m  watching “Black Girls Rock” on BET while I write this post. The show began by honoring Kerry Washington and most recently honored Yasmine Arrington, a college student who began a scholarship fund for young women like her whose father’s are incarcerated

Looking for a real life motivator? How about the University of Illinois conference for Women of Color in the Academy to be held this April.

Looks like more storms are heading to the east coast. Be prepared, be safe. And, let’s take care on one another!

I woke this morning to news of an earthquake in Canada and an impending tsunami in Hawaii. Thankfully, Hawaii prepared for the worst but damage seems to have been minimal. Let’s wish the same results for the east coast. Here in the middle fall comes and goes. Two days in the 80s this week spoiled me and I, who enjoy the cold, found it difficult to pull out the sweaters once again.

It’s easy to say not much happens in this little ol’ town. I recently joked with someone that the Sundance Award winner “Middle of Nowhere” wouldn’t show here in the middle of nowhere, and it still hasn’t!

This city doesn’t compare to Indy (and that doesn’t compare to Chicago, Atlanta or New York!) but, there are events! Yesterday, I attended the annual India Night and was entertained by Bollywood style dancing, singing and a fashion show. While India definitely was the theme of the evening, it felt more like a global night (the original name of the evening) as people from Pakistan, African, China, Egypt, Algeria, Croatia, the Caribbean and other parts of the world sat in the audience, joined in the dancing and enjoy the festivities. I had a couple of photos to post but WordPress and/or my crappy IP is acting up and won’t let me do it. Sorry!

It amazes me how much occurs in the library! Last week, there were signs of Old England and this week it will be Cinco de Maya. These day long events occur in spaces inside and outside the library. As technology transforms how we locate, access and retrieve information, it is also redefining how we use library space. I recently attended a webinar on makerspaces and found it interesting how public libraries are providing resources for community members to creatively use information to create new products. A recent post on the YALSA blog looks into makerspaces.

Librarian in Black has spent much of last week looking at the use of library space. My library has been creating collaborative workspaces for students. What more can you imagine?

Cynsations  recently linked to an interview with Cassandra Clare on the Racebending blog. Clare discusses diversity in her written work and her efforts to maintain that integrity as the works transform to film.

I’ve been picking up and putting down several books and even that is a real improvement over the little reading I’ve been doing over the past few months. I’m currently reading Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick and  enjoy how she’s developed the narrative voice. Never Fall Down is a May release that is gaining a bit of attention.

I’ve been looking at the numbers and will not be surprised if we see a real drop in the number of children’s books written by authors of color this year. As I post the releases each month, I’m continually disappointed in the numbers. And, there are so few new authors of color this year! Scoot on over to the BrownBookShelf blog and nominate a black author for this February’s 28 Days Later! Last day to nominate is 2 November.

I hope you have something good to read and a safe, warm place to read it this week!

I’ve been on the road a lot lately. Two weeks ago, I drove to Shakamak State Park near Jasonville, IN with a friend

Celebration of the Future. PowWow sponsored by The Sullivan County American Indian Council

to visit a PowWow. It was my first and I don’t think it will be my last.

Last Sunday, I was in Kansas City, MO for the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color. Though a bit too spread out for my tastes, the facilities included easy access to a wide variety of places for dining and shopping. I attended sessions on tribal libraries in AZ, GLBT books for children, how to prepare others for change and a few others. I met new publishers and entrepreneurs who use locally produced jewelry to support artists and literacy at the same time. I also network with library friends old and new. Yes, it was a very good conference!

Yesterday I was home in Indianapolis to visit a friend battling an illness. I thought I was ready for a weekend at home, cocooning in my introvertedness but after yesterday I realized I need this time with others. Maybe I need to visit more now because I certainly won’t be taking to the road so much in the winter or maybe there are other reasons. Whatever it is, I

Opening speaker, Sonia Manzano aka “Maria”

won’t be sitting still soon. Maybe my travel bug is stirring.

This month, my third and final article appeared in Voya and it addresses what some publishing companies are doing to attract and promote authors of color. I met with reps from Cinco Puntos at JCLC and they are actively seeking authors of color. I also met a couple of publishers who publish works for people of color and I’ll be posting interviews with them soon.

I’ve been avoiding finishing In Darkness by Nick Lake, but I’m so close I have to be ready to post a review this week. Goodness knows I need to sit still long enough to write more blog posts.

I want to spend the rest of my afternoon reading through my neglected blog feeds and re-connecting with blogger friends. Rather, I have to do some work to my ‘Intro to the Library’ presentation. I’m sure this will be a work in progress for quite some time as I work to fully understand all the underlying messages I hope to deliver. I rarely use Boolean; do I want to emphasize it so much? Can I really step away from mentioning tech tools that assist and support the research process like PowerPoint, Word… ? How do I convey this presentation is a welcome to the library and not an end to what we have to offer?  Education is a process, isn’t it?!

Wherever your week takes you, there you will be.

I’m enjoying today. I am prefer these cooler temperatures and am so happy to be at home in the middle of the day to see the sun streaming into my bedroom. I miss Saturday, Garcon and Manning, but I’m still cheering for my Colts and look forward to wearing that same shade of blue to watch the Sycamores take to the field here in TH. I’m watching them play the Bears right now and although I want my Colts to win, I have watched so many Bears games, love Chicago so much that I don’t think I’ll be disappointed if the Bears win, or at least not too disappointed.

I think of how my favorite players are dispersed, how I’ve come to admire so many teams and players and I find it hard to wish any a losing season. As I’ve aged I think I’ve become aware of so much more in the world of football that I and want to see and follow more.

I hope as search engines continue to customize my search results, they come to understand my growing interests and don’t limit to only information about the Colts. I am truly a life long learning.

With the Colts and Bears playing in front of me, I turned to Google Reader to collect my feeds and prepare this post and I stopped with one of the first posts I starred. I don’t want to write any more that will prevent you from clicking the link to read and begin to follow the Asian Pacific American Library Association’s (APALA) series, The New Normal which begins with this post by Gurpreet Kaur Rana. In it:

I kept seeing that phrase on T-shirts and placards at candlelight vigils and memorials for the Oak Creek victims: “We are all Sikhs”. We truly are – more than even those who may say it realize. The literal meaning of “Sikh” is “learner”. As librarians, we are lifelong learners who share what we learn.

I think I want a t-shirt that says “Librarian Sikh”

I hope your team wins today!

Without a doubt, things change and sometimes, we even know why. I haven’t heard mention made of it, but I’ve noticed this year the conventions are much later than usual. I can remember when I was little we’d take vacations to visit family in Chicago and the outings would always be planned so that we would return in time to watch the convention. I know I didn’t want to watch them, but I knew they were important and exciting because my parents, aunts and uncles were all glued to the screen following and discussing every detail. Of course, that was when more of the convention was actually televised and the American public wasn’t pandered to with events meant to be more glamorous.

Perhaps having students back in school during this year’s convention will give teachers the opportunity to highlight the events in class. Even if students are too young to vote, they’re not too young to get excited about the process. I don’t remember ever being involved in a mock election but they sure do get young people to pay attention to the process!

Rock the Vote does too.

Election years are also good times to teach students about information literacy: how to find good sources of information

primary vs. secondary and tertiary sources

create information products

credit sources

analyze information

It can be difficult to find sources without bias, sometimes we just have to be able to recognize what the bias is. Factchecker.org can help with that. Politico tries to be unbiased and I’m going to believe NPR does, too. Students might want to follow the campaign of both candidates on Twitter and FB. It can’t hurt to know what the other guy is saying!

Not often political in natural, but a good place to get the conversation started is the Sociological Images blog. Click for an interesting piece about Oprah’s hair and another about the racializing impact of Romney’s welfare ads.

The more politically involved college students might be interested in learning how it all works by getting involved in their state legislature as an intern. I was reminded of the ones here in IN when I received a very informative newsletter from one of my congressmen. Students can apply for Republican or Democratic internships.

Finally, if you’ve moved be sure to update you voter’s registration!

I think I’ll work on a list of books featuring teens of color that relate to voting and politics. Any suggestions?

The Perseid meteor showers began this weekend! I started to go out to see them last night, but the air gets so funky here at night that I didn’t step outside. I love watching this annual display and may have to bite the bullet and step outside (Or breathe it, as the case may be.) I think I’ll spend most of the day today reading while the Olympics play out. That was my plan yesterday, but I made the impromptu decision to go see “Hope Springs”.

I spent a lot of time on Twitter, too! One of the gems I found there led me to Joyce Valenza’s Twiplomacy post. She introduces us to this site which analyzes world leader’s use of Twitter.

The governments of almost two-thirds of the 193 UN member countries have a presence on Twitter: 45% of the 264 accounts analysed are personal accounts of heads of state and government, but just 30 world leaders tweet themselves and very few on a regular basis.

This study shows that while the social network invites direct interaction between users, few world leaders take advantage of this opportunity to develop connections. Almost half of world leader accounts analysed don’t follow any of their peers. A quarter of world leaders and governments follow President Barack Obama and the White House, but @BarackObama and the @WhiteHouse have established mutual Twitter relations with only three other world leaders: Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, the UK Prime Minister and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev.

This gets to one way I like to use Twitter, and it speaks to my librarianship. As a librarian, I want to know what leaders are reading, from where they get their information. On Twitter, while I like following people who will interact with me and who will follow me back, I really like to follow the people who leaders follow. So, when I follow @leeandlow, @donnabrazile, @ajenglish, I look to see who they follow. If I were teaching, like Valenza I would take my students to twiplomacy and teach them how to use Twitter more reliably.

Do know someone with dyslexia or other problems reading print? If so, introduce them to Bookshare, an accessible online library. Mindshift recently wrote about the service.

Bookshare books aren’t just PDFs of print pages. Each page is scanned and processed through an optical character recognition program that translates the image file into a text file. That file is proofread to eliminate typos and ensure that things like odd page layouts haven’t damaged readability. Finally, the file is formatted so that it can be “read” in a digital voice by screen reading software — a computer program that reads what’s on the screen — or fed to a Braille notetaker.

UT Austin and U of North Carolina are both in court arguing the right to base admission on race. UNC last week used a recently released 10 year multidisciplinary study to support their case. In reporting about the cases, HigherEd included the response by Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a group that doesn’t want race as a consideration for admissions.

“The issues chosen to show how racial diversity correlates with property? How about tax? ….), and of course law itself is a discipline in which such correlation is more likely than most others (Is there a Latina perspective in chemistry? Mathematics? Economics? Engineering? Russian? Etc.) Even if there are some educational benefits to having