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We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) has announced its collaboration with School Library Journal on a variety of initiatives concerning diversity in children’s literature. “SLJ has a long and storied history of supporting diverse books, including its May 2014 issue entirely devoted to the subject,” said WNDB VP of Development I.W. Gregorio. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with such a critical voice in the children’s literature world and look forward to creating content that will help teachers, librarians, and booksellers alike diversify their shelves.”
The WNDB partnership with SLJ will include:
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Sponsorship and collaborative programming of a diversity-focused event to be held in association with the 2016 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Boston.
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Content sharing and support for the We Need Diverse Books Diversity Festival to be held in summer 2016 in the Washington, DC, area.
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Joint development of an Education Kit to introduce teachers, librarians, and booksellers to select diverse books and provide them with tools to present these titles to their patrons and students.
“SLJ is honored to partner with ‘We Need Diverse Books,’” says Kathy Ishizuka, executive editor at SLJ. “The spirit and objectives of WNDB dovetail with our own belief in the power of books and a commitment to helping transform the publishing landscape to best serve our kids and the greater community.”
ABOUT WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS
More than just a hashtag, We Need Diverse Books is a grassroots nonprofit organization created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature. WNDB is committed to the ideal that embracing diversity will lead to acceptance, empathy, and ultimately equality.
On October 24, the group will launch its inaugural Indiegogo campaign to support its future initiatives, including a Diversity in the Classroom program, the Walter Dean Myers Award and Grant program, a diverse books Education Kit, and its inaugural Diversity Festival in 2016. Volunteer & sign up for its mailing list at diversebooks.org, or follow WNDB on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram.
ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
School Library Journal is the most influential publication serving libraries—the largest market for new children’s and young adult books—and is the only full-service publication serving the youth and school library market. It reaches over 35,000 elementary, middle/junior, and senior high school librarians and youth service librarians in public libraries. SLJ educates its readers to become leaders in technology, reading, and information literacy. School Library Journal is a publication of Media Source Inc., which also owns Library Journal, The Horn Book publications, and Junior Library Guild.
