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CBC Diversity
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From: cbcdiversity <cbcdiversity_at_cbcbooks.org>
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:27:00 -0500
Hello CCBC-Net readers,
Thank you for bringing CBC Diversity into this conversation. The CBC is a small (5 person) nonprofit trade association that services the needs of our member publishers. The CBC Diversity Initiative was developed in response to a need perceived by brilliant and compassionate publishing professionals from several publishing houses represented by the CBC. We're happy to see that our efforts (through good and not so good comments) have been recognized. Thank you, Cheryl, for your post in support of CBC Diversity and unparalleled skill in informing the public about the real goals of our initiative. Thank you, Charles and Maggie, for pointing out the importance of well-meaning intentions and supporting what you want to see more of. And thank you to all the participants in this conversation for discussing this problem and trying to constructively figure out a way for change to take shape. CBC Diversity is in this with all of you.
It's been difficult to read and remain silent through most of this conversation but we did not want to preemptively chime in while the initiative was still growing, morphing, and refining with the surrounding climate. As Cheryl stated, CBC Diversity is just really getting its legs, celebrating its 1st birthday three weeks ago. The initiative will continue to grow and improve the longer it is around and it's important to hear what interested people want and need so that we can fine-tune our offerings to the best of our ability while still staying true to our organization's mission.
There has been much talk about our Goodreads list of late and, like most things, this list started with the best intentions in February 2011.
*Historical Background about the Goodreads List*
As a nonprofit trade association it is our obligation to promote the books that our members produce. Our sole purpose as a nonprofit organization is to support and further the reach of our members. We do have a varying scale of memberships from Associate Member for very small presses (of which we have a number of members) to full membership (Regular Members) and we do have in place various discounts for new members, out of town members, etc. We encourage all children's book publishers interested in membership to contact us directly about membership opportunities, including rates, and the myriad benefits of membership, before deciding we are price prohibitive.
As a trade association, it seems natural and reasonable that the booklists we compile represent the books offered by our members. For the Goodreads list, a call is made to our members to include ALL of the books they feel will fit on one or more of the 56 unique tags provided to them on Goodreads. They also have the option to include new tags to better categorize their books. The CBC Diversity Committee is not responsible for making quality-based selections of the books on the list or maintaining the list for any other purpose than to bring awareness that there are many diverse books in existence and here is a selection.
If our publishers do not submit all of their appropriate books then we cannot possibly know about all of them. We urge the public to send us recommendations through Goodreads to help supplement the list if there are books that we have missed from our member publishers (such as Return to Sender which is published by a member), but we ultimately look to publishers for the information. As it was shared earlier, we will add books that are pointed out to us that have diverse content and are published by a member publisher, but only when brought to our attention. You can find a list of our members through the link on our Goodreads profile.
The CBC Diversity bookshelf on Goodreads is intended as a resource but we do not suggest that it is the end-all-be-all list. To be clear, it is not intended to be a qualitative list. It is a way of showing that there are more books out there than people may know of (even within the confines of our list) and this is just one place to find some of them. As much as we want to be inclusive, CBC Diversity has never stated that this was a comprehensive list. If more lists are created, the CBC Diversity blog will link to them on the resources.
*New Developments for the Goodreads List*
A formal announcement will be made later in the week, but CBC Diversity is very happy to share that we are opening up the CBC Diversity Goodreads Bookshelf to non-member publishers for a nominal fee of $100 per year. Non CBC members should contact me at ayanna.coleman_at_cbcbooks.org and I will send the appropriate spreadsheet to them to add their books to the CBC Diversity Bookshelf. Like our members, there will be no limit to how many books you can include on the spreadsheet, but there are some things CBC Diversity cannot control when it comes to Goodreads. Mainly 1) the publisher is responsible for contacting Goodreads to make sure their books can be found within the Goodreads database so that CBC Diversity can then find and add the books to our list and 2) the publisher is responsible for tagging their books so that they will end up on the correct bookshelf within the overall CBC Diversity list. More about the opening of the CBC Diversity Goodreads list will be available on our blog, www.cbcbdiversity.com, soon.
One person commented earlier that we should not depend on CBC Diversity, and that person is correct. We cannot depend on one person or entity to make all the change. CBC Diversity is just trying to be an agent of change. We're doing that by activating those within the publishing industry and trying to collaborate with others outside of it. Caroline Ward, our esteemed moderator at the ALA Midwinter Panel, stated something interesting that afternoon. There hasn't been a discussion revolving around diversity stemming from within the publishing industry since she can remember. We want to see more discussions like this, we want to be a part of more discussions like this, and we want to work together with many different organizations to create the change that everyone is looking for. The goal is to create a more inclusive children's publishing industry that includes more authors, illustrators, and employees from all different backgrounds who can help create more good children's books for every child. It makes sens e that we should all work together, support each other, and encourage what is out there and encourage more actions to take shape.
And to add to the topic at hand, some of the CBC staffers' favorite multicultural children's books that feature a wonderfully funny voice include:
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look, mentioned in Uma's article (MG)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (YA)
The Dance Class series by Beka (MG)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (MG)
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, which won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award (MG)
Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker (MG)
It's important to remember that not all books containing diversity need to be about diversity. Many kids just want to see themselves or experience the real world (which is a diverse world) in the books they read; I know I craved it growing up. Oftentimes funny books have the license to take the "issues" out and just let the character be their hilarious, diverse selves.
Ayanna
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Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:27:00 -0500
Hello CCBC-Net readers,
Thank you for bringing CBC Diversity into this conversation. The CBC is a small (5 person) nonprofit trade association that services the needs of our member publishers. The CBC Diversity Initiative was developed in response to a need perceived by brilliant and compassionate publishing professionals from several publishing houses represented by the CBC. We're happy to see that our efforts (through good and not so good comments) have been recognized. Thank you, Cheryl, for your post in support of CBC Diversity and unparalleled skill in informing the public about the real goals of our initiative. Thank you, Charles and Maggie, for pointing out the importance of well-meaning intentions and supporting what you want to see more of. And thank you to all the participants in this conversation for discussing this problem and trying to constructively figure out a way for change to take shape. CBC Diversity is in this with all of you.
It's been difficult to read and remain silent through most of this conversation but we did not want to preemptively chime in while the initiative was still growing, morphing, and refining with the surrounding climate. As Cheryl stated, CBC Diversity is just really getting its legs, celebrating its 1st birthday three weeks ago. The initiative will continue to grow and improve the longer it is around and it's important to hear what interested people want and need so that we can fine-tune our offerings to the best of our ability while still staying true to our organization's mission.
There has been much talk about our Goodreads list of late and, like most things, this list started with the best intentions in February 2011.
*Historical Background about the Goodreads List*
As a nonprofit trade association it is our obligation to promote the books that our members produce. Our sole purpose as a nonprofit organization is to support and further the reach of our members. We do have a varying scale of memberships from Associate Member for very small presses (of which we have a number of members) to full membership (Regular Members) and we do have in place various discounts for new members, out of town members, etc. We encourage all children's book publishers interested in membership to contact us directly about membership opportunities, including rates, and the myriad benefits of membership, before deciding we are price prohibitive.
As a trade association, it seems natural and reasonable that the booklists we compile represent the books offered by our members. For the Goodreads list, a call is made to our members to include ALL of the books they feel will fit on one or more of the 56 unique tags provided to them on Goodreads. They also have the option to include new tags to better categorize their books. The CBC Diversity Committee is not responsible for making quality-based selections of the books on the list or maintaining the list for any other purpose than to bring awareness that there are many diverse books in existence and here is a selection.
If our publishers do not submit all of their appropriate books then we cannot possibly know about all of them. We urge the public to send us recommendations through Goodreads to help supplement the list if there are books that we have missed from our member publishers (such as Return to Sender which is published by a member), but we ultimately look to publishers for the information. As it was shared earlier, we will add books that are pointed out to us that have diverse content and are published by a member publisher, but only when brought to our attention. You can find a list of our members through the link on our Goodreads profile.
The CBC Diversity bookshelf on Goodreads is intended as a resource but we do not suggest that it is the end-all-be-all list. To be clear, it is not intended to be a qualitative list. It is a way of showing that there are more books out there than people may know of (even within the confines of our list) and this is just one place to find some of them. As much as we want to be inclusive, CBC Diversity has never stated that this was a comprehensive list. If more lists are created, the CBC Diversity blog will link to them on the resources.
*New Developments for the Goodreads List*
A formal announcement will be made later in the week, but CBC Diversity is very happy to share that we are opening up the CBC Diversity Goodreads Bookshelf to non-member publishers for a nominal fee of $100 per year. Non CBC members should contact me at ayanna.coleman_at_cbcbooks.org and I will send the appropriate spreadsheet to them to add their books to the CBC Diversity Bookshelf. Like our members, there will be no limit to how many books you can include on the spreadsheet, but there are some things CBC Diversity cannot control when it comes to Goodreads. Mainly 1) the publisher is responsible for contacting Goodreads to make sure their books can be found within the Goodreads database so that CBC Diversity can then find and add the books to our list and 2) the publisher is responsible for tagging their books so that they will end up on the correct bookshelf within the overall CBC Diversity list. More about the opening of the CBC Diversity Goodreads list will be available on our blog, www.cbcbdiversity.com, soon.
One person commented earlier that we should not depend on CBC Diversity, and that person is correct. We cannot depend on one person or entity to make all the change. CBC Diversity is just trying to be an agent of change. We're doing that by activating those within the publishing industry and trying to collaborate with others outside of it. Caroline Ward, our esteemed moderator at the ALA Midwinter Panel, stated something interesting that afternoon. There hasn't been a discussion revolving around diversity stemming from within the publishing industry since she can remember. We want to see more discussions like this, we want to be a part of more discussions like this, and we want to work together with many different organizations to create the change that everyone is looking for. The goal is to create a more inclusive children's publishing industry that includes more authors, illustrators, and employees from all different backgrounds who can help create more good children's books for every child. It makes sens e that we should all work together, support each other, and encourage what is out there and encourage more actions to take shape.
And to add to the topic at hand, some of the CBC staffers' favorite multicultural children's books that feature a wonderfully funny voice include:
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look, mentioned in Uma's article (MG)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (YA)
The Dance Class series by Beka (MG)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (MG)
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, which won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award (MG)
Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker (MG)
It's important to remember that not all books containing diversity need to be about diversity. Many kids just want to see themselves or experience the real world (which is a diverse world) in the books they read; I know I craved it growing up. Oftentimes funny books have the license to take the "issues" out and just let the character be their hilarious, diverse selves.
Ayanna
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--- Ayanna Coleman | Events Associate & Librarian The Children's Book Council, Inc. | Every Child a Reader, Inc. (CBC Diversity Liaison)Received on Wed 20 Feb 2013 04:27:00 PM CST
