Happy Summer! Here are some updates from the We Need Diverse Books team…
Booktalking Kit:
WNDB and School Library Journal have partnered to produce the Booktalking Kit, which highlights children’s literature with diverse characters or authors. The kit will help teachers, librarians, and booksellers discuss these diverse works with students and customers, which includes book lists, brief descriptions, comparative titles, and signs to help spread the word about excellent diverse reads.
Thanks to funds raised during the IndieGoGo campaign, WNDB is kicking off the internship program, designed to foster the publishing careers of promising individuals from diverse backgrounds. Five diverse recipients have been awarded with grants to fund internships at major publishing houses. Congratulations to the first-ever recipients, Julie Jarema, Feather Flores, Kandance Coston, Esther Cajahuaringa, and Yananisai Makuwa.
BEA/BookCon: WNDB was present and active at BEA and BookCon, prompting discussion and conversation, including:
A feature on NPR with Ellen Oh and Daniel Jose Older, discussing WNDB one year later
Sunday, June 28th at 9:00 AM: a WNDB panel, co-sponsored with ALA-OIF featuring E.E. Charton, Susan Kuklin, Lyn Miller-Lachman, Karen Sandler, Tim Federle, and Greg Neri. The panelists will discuss censorship and the top challenged books in 2014.
Sunday, June 28th at 3:00 PM: an official WNDB panel sponsored by the APALA (the Asian Pacific American Librarian’s Association) on how librarians can engage in dialogue about diverse books will feature Aisha Saeed, Cindy Pon, Cynthia Leitich-Smith, Ellen Oh, Soman Chainini, and Stephanie Kuehn.
Keep up with us on social media for further updates, discussion, and the 2015 Summer Reading Series for some diverse book suggestions!