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Re: ccbc-net digest: February 08, 2014
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From: Sherryl Clark <sherrylc1_at_optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 20:00:16 +1100
The points that Cheryl and others make about books and their links with those living in poverty is, I think, crucial. We can talk a lot about diversity but if the books themselves are not making their way to those children living in poverty, then the discussion goes nowhere.
In New Zealand, Maori writer Alan Duff used a lot of his book royalty money to start a reading program with free books for Maori children. In Australia we have Magabala Press publishing Aboriginal and indigenous stories. It's a start. I'd be interested to hear more about how we get books to those who have none, who don't read because of that, and because books are outside their "comfort zone". Yes, they need books that speak to them. But really they need access to books, and ways to engage with books that are non-threatening.
My experience as a writer doing school visits and talks in libraries is that in the poorer areas, where you would expect families to be making much more use of public libraries, they simply weren't. Often out of a group of 50 students, maybe two had ever used their public library. So school libraries then become vital and yet, in Australia as well as the USA, more and more schools are losing funding for their librarians.
It sounds silly to say books and libraries are threatening to a lot of families and kids, but when school librarians disappear and public libraries are defunded (especially their community programs), all the publishing in the world will not reach these kids.
By the way, I recently looked at the website for Saddleback Books
(who publish a lot of hi/lo etc) and they are tackling the diversity issue really well.
Sherryl Clark
>www.sherrylclark.com
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." C.S. Lewis
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 20:00:16 +1100
The points that Cheryl and others make about books and their links with those living in poverty is, I think, crucial. We can talk a lot about diversity but if the books themselves are not making their way to those children living in poverty, then the discussion goes nowhere.
In New Zealand, Maori writer Alan Duff used a lot of his book royalty money to start a reading program with free books for Maori children. In Australia we have Magabala Press publishing Aboriginal and indigenous stories. It's a start. I'd be interested to hear more about how we get books to those who have none, who don't read because of that, and because books are outside their "comfort zone". Yes, they need books that speak to them. But really they need access to books, and ways to engage with books that are non-threatening.
My experience as a writer doing school visits and talks in libraries is that in the poorer areas, where you would expect families to be making much more use of public libraries, they simply weren't. Often out of a group of 50 students, maybe two had ever used their public library. So school libraries then become vital and yet, in Australia as well as the USA, more and more schools are losing funding for their librarians.
It sounds silly to say books and libraries are threatening to a lot of families and kids, but when school librarians disappear and public libraries are defunded (especially their community programs), all the publishing in the world will not reach these kids.
By the way, I recently looked at the website for Saddleback Books
(who publish a lot of hi/lo etc) and they are tackling the diversity issue really well.
Sherryl Clark
>www.sherrylclark.com
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." C.S. Lewis
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Received on Sun 09 Feb 2014 03:05:47 AM CST
