CCBC-Net Archives
Re: Multiculturalism and the unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty (sigh)
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From: Alyson Feldman-Piltch <alyson.fp_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 19:04:25 -0500
I too am new to listserv and am just sort of taking everything in. I started receiving the emails half way through the month and while I can’t say I’ve read every single email out there, I think it’s important that publishers and book sellers realize that the desire for multicultural lit has not ended, though the very public push for it has.
I think it’s important to realize and remember that people on this listserv are coming from different backgrounds: some that are data driven, some that are results driven, some that are experience driven. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just reality.
For those that are data driven, I can tell you that the world of libraries and readership, may involve numbers, but for myself, and I’m sure others, it’s about the experience. I could care less if Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers has low circulation statistics, I care that that book provides a mirror for so many children to see themselves in.
So you know where I am coming from, I am a white woman obtaining her MLS and MIS with a focus on Multicultural Lit. I was raised on a healthy diet of diverse topics and cultures in the books I read, and I have chosen to do what I do so that one day other children can experience what I have and have their eyes open to the world around them. I quickly learned in library school that this focus would be an uphill battle, because it seems a very public push for multicultural lit died down after the 90’s and Rudien Sims Bishop’s works were published. I also want to make it clear, I am no where deterred from this reality.
I also wanted to say that I agree with whoever made the point that the belief there may be “little indication” of a desire for MC lit because those readers aren’t there, is wrong. I’m sorry I don’t remember who said it. If you build it, they will come. If you seek, you will find. There’s a reason why the rapper Lil Wayne has gotten into publishing Urban Teen Fiction, and it’s not because he’s all about literacy, it’s because there’s a market there and he sees an opportunity to fill it. We could debate the merits of the quality of that literature all day, but until someone has something else to show me as an alternative, then there’s no reason not to make it’s presence known.
I apologize if this is rambling and all over the place, but I wanted to throw in my two sense.
Enjoy your weeks,
Alyson Feldman-Piltch MLS/MIS Candidate Department of Library and Information Science at Indiana University alysonfp.com
On Feb 16, 2014, at 6:39 PM, Sarah Hamburg <srhf92_at_hampshire.edu> wrote:
> Sorry, Barbara, my post came before I'd read yours!
>
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Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 19:04:25 -0500
I too am new to listserv and am just sort of taking everything in. I started receiving the emails half way through the month and while I can’t say I’ve read every single email out there, I think it’s important that publishers and book sellers realize that the desire for multicultural lit has not ended, though the very public push for it has.
I think it’s important to realize and remember that people on this listserv are coming from different backgrounds: some that are data driven, some that are results driven, some that are experience driven. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just reality.
For those that are data driven, I can tell you that the world of libraries and readership, may involve numbers, but for myself, and I’m sure others, it’s about the experience. I could care less if Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers has low circulation statistics, I care that that book provides a mirror for so many children to see themselves in.
So you know where I am coming from, I am a white woman obtaining her MLS and MIS with a focus on Multicultural Lit. I was raised on a healthy diet of diverse topics and cultures in the books I read, and I have chosen to do what I do so that one day other children can experience what I have and have their eyes open to the world around them. I quickly learned in library school that this focus would be an uphill battle, because it seems a very public push for multicultural lit died down after the 90’s and Rudien Sims Bishop’s works were published. I also want to make it clear, I am no where deterred from this reality.
I also wanted to say that I agree with whoever made the point that the belief there may be “little indication” of a desire for MC lit because those readers aren’t there, is wrong. I’m sorry I don’t remember who said it. If you build it, they will come. If you seek, you will find. There’s a reason why the rapper Lil Wayne has gotten into publishing Urban Teen Fiction, and it’s not because he’s all about literacy, it’s because there’s a market there and he sees an opportunity to fill it. We could debate the merits of the quality of that literature all day, but until someone has something else to show me as an alternative, then there’s no reason not to make it’s presence known.
I apologize if this is rambling and all over the place, but I wanted to throw in my two sense.
Enjoy your weeks,
Alyson Feldman-Piltch MLS/MIS Candidate Department of Library and Information Science at Indiana University alysonfp.com
On Feb 16, 2014, at 6:39 PM, Sarah Hamburg <srhf92_at_hampshire.edu> wrote:
> Sorry, Barbara, my post came before I'd read yours!
>
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: alyson.fp_at_gmail.com.
>
> 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
>
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>
> set ccbc-net digest
>
>
>
>
>
> CCBC-Net Archives
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> 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:
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> username: ccbc-net
> password: Look4Posts
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CCBC-Net Archives
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Received on Sun 16 Feb 2014 06:05:02 PM CST
