CCBC-Net Archives
Multicultural Literature, continued
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 10:37:57 -0600
This ongoing discussion is touching on so many various dimensions of multicultural publishing and multicultural literature for children and teens. What it's making me aware of in a way I suppose I knew but hadn't really coherently reflected upon is how multifaceted this is. I have no doubt this is not news to many people.The issue is no less complex for us in the children's and young adult literature world than it is for our society as a whole, as Jason Low noted yesterday when he talked about the diversity gap within and beyond publishing.
I began thinking this morning of the many dimensions of children's and young adult literature alone that are relevant to what children and teens ultimately see and have access to, most if not all of which I have seen reflected in these posts---elements that are all connected and yet have individual impact on the big picture: creation of multicultural books; publishing decisions; promotion and marketing approaches; representation---not only representation of race and culture within books, but how the books themselves are being represented (see promotion and marketing, above); evaluation, including evaluation by annual best-of-the-year list and award committees; selection and purchasing decisions; and, finally, decisions that are made by librarians and teachers each and every day about what books to use/share/feature.
I bet there are other things I'm missing.
Each one of these dimensions has many complexities, and our willingness to examine those complexities and the interconnectedness of all of these things seems to me to as essential as the good work that is taking place on many fronts. So thank you to everyone who is contributing to that exploration in this forum.
Megan
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 10:37:57 -0600
This ongoing discussion is touching on so many various dimensions of multicultural publishing and multicultural literature for children and teens. What it's making me aware of in a way I suppose I knew but hadn't really coherently reflected upon is how multifaceted this is. I have no doubt this is not news to many people.The issue is no less complex for us in the children's and young adult literature world than it is for our society as a whole, as Jason Low noted yesterday when he talked about the diversity gap within and beyond publishing.
I began thinking this morning of the many dimensions of children's and young adult literature alone that are relevant to what children and teens ultimately see and have access to, most if not all of which I have seen reflected in these posts---elements that are all connected and yet have individual impact on the big picture: creation of multicultural books; publishing decisions; promotion and marketing approaches; representation---not only representation of race and culture within books, but how the books themselves are being represented (see promotion and marketing, above); evaluation, including evaluation by annual best-of-the-year list and award committees; selection and purchasing decisions; and, finally, decisions that are made by librarians and teachers each and every day about what books to use/share/feature.
I bet there are other things I'm missing.
Each one of these dimensions has many complexities, and our willingness to examine those complexities and the interconnectedness of all of these things seems to me to as essential as the good work that is taking place on many fronts. So thank you to everyone who is contributing to that exploration in this forum.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
---
You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a message to...
ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu
...and include only this command in the body of the message:
set ccbc-net digest
CCBC-Net Archives
The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to:
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
and enter the following:
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Thu 06 Feb 2014 10:38:22 AM CST
