ALA and its divisions have been working hard to address diversity both within the organization and within literature. The "We Need Diverse Books" movement has increased awareness of needed changes in children's literature, and this effort has brought other issues of diversity to the forefront.

The past year's focus with ALSC President Nina Lindsey has been diversity and inclusion. She has used her platform to shine a light on the many ways our profession continues to struggle with equality, both within the work force and children's literature.

Last summer she arranged for speakers to address the current statistics on characters of color within children's lit. (See below for graphics and links.) This summer, she arranged the President's Program to focus on the same topic, from the perspective of panelists in higher education and authors of color. (Again, links are below.)

High drama ensued when the name change announcement was made! After much research, conversation, and deliberation, the ALSC Board voted unanimously to change the name of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children's Literature Legacy Award. See below for more details. This was a long-time coming, and, in MY opinion, much needed.

ALSC's Legacy Award

The home page for the new award.

Reading While White: The Legacy Award

RWW is a group of rock-star bloggers, writing about diversity in children's lit. Here is their take on the Legacy Award.

AICL: A Closer Look

Debbie Reese's response to the above graphic.

CCBC's Children's Books by and about POC (People of Color)

Picture This: Follow Up

Sarah Park Dahlen and an updated piece on the above graphic.

I am a school librarian in Ketchikan, Alaska. This flyer was published as part of the Alaska Association of School Librarians travel grants program.

Email: Caitlin.Jacobson@k21schools.org
Website: www.kgbsd.org/library