The goal of the Advancing Racial Equity Collection is to help Hoosiers think, read, and talk about racial injustice and systemic racism. The collection contains seven juvenile book club kits and multiple copies of a juvenile storytime kit. This collection has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities with funds from Lilly Endowment Inc.
“We chose books that not only tackle issues Black, Brown, and Indigenous community members go through each day, but also books that celebrate, validate, and empower that same community,” said Children’s Librarian, Ginny Hosler. Titles were selected from a pre-approved list created by Indiana Humanities.
We often receive requests for diverse books to introduce and help their child understand experiences different from their own. In addition to single family parent and caregiver requests, daycares, youth groups, church groups, and other community organizations have asked for materials that are antiracist or address systemic racism as well.
While the goal of this collection is to help children and families talk about race issues, we also want to increase the availability of stories about Black children.
“We talk a lot about ‘windows and mirrors’ when we talk about diversity in children's literature," said Hosler. "If you never see yourself in the media you consume, you begin to believe you don't matter. Likewise, if you only see yourself in the media, you begin to believe others don't matter. Children who see their identity represented and celebrated are validated and empowered.”
In this way, books act as mirrors for readers where they can look at themselves and their identity, feel understood and seen. The other side of that, the windows portion, is that children also need to see identities that are not the same as theirs to teach understanding, confront bias, have empathy for others, and perhaps most important, see that differences should be celebrated.
Having both the experience of seeing your identity validated as well as seeing others equally represented is necessary when talking about diversity and inclusion in any capacity, whether it's race, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, and more.
As a public service institution, it is our responsibility to be responsive to the needs of our community, to address inequities, and to provide a place of safety and inclusiveness. It is also our responsibility to provide resources and information to help individuals seek knowledge which can lead to greater understanding and compassion.