From Broken Yolks to Party Folks The Importance of Libraries & and Literacy in Keeping Diversity Alive For Our Children Dr. Camila Alire Dean Emerita University of New Mexico ALA President 2009/10

Thanks to…..  ALSC  Children's Books Council  Dollar General Literacy Foundation  Jamie Naidoo

A Story……

Good Boy, Bad Boy

Children's Book About People of Color Published in the U.S & 2013 Year Total Number of Books Published (Est.) Number of Books Received at CCBC African / African Americans American Indians Asian Pacific/ Asian Pacific Americans Latinos About ,0003, ,0003, (-42%) 34 (-46%) 69 (-24%) 57 (-39%)

Why Is All Of This So Important?  3 reasons

1. Over-arching reason > literacy among our young minority children is critical and can lead to their:  Development, success, and future.

2. Literacy Lessens the Reading Achievement Gaps 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)  2013 Average score did not change from the last assessment in 2009  2013 Reading scores decreased from the first assessment in 1992

Literacy Statistics Where’s the need?  30% of high school students drop out before graduation.  50% of these dropouts are African American and Latino.  American Indian and Alaska Native students have a dropout rate twice the national average.  3 out of 10 Native students drop out of school before graduating; this statistic includes those on reservations and in cities.  Asian and Pacific Islander students who struggle in school often fail to get the attention and resources they need.

3. U.S. Census Minority Populations 2000 & U.S.TOTAL MINORITY PERCENT 281,421,908 86,869, U.S.TOTAL MINORITY PERCENT %CHG 308,745, ,927,

Family Literacy Focus The vision: help families in ethnically diverse communities improve their literacy skills. The concept: support and mentor family literacy models through ALA’s five Ethnic Affiliates. The initiative: help public libraries build innovative and replicable family literacy program models.

ALA’s Five Ethnic Affiliates  American Indian Library Association (AILA)  Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)  Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA)  Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA)  REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking

AILA and APALA Talk Story shares the richness and diversity of American culture with new readers.

Reading is Grand! Celebrates the important role grandparents play children’s lives Reaches out to those grandparents acting as primary caregivers Builds literacy through shared stories. BCALA

Dai Dai Xiang Chuan 代代相 传  Dai Dai is an appropriate Chinese pun.  Dai Dai means “bag” and refers to passing on the knowledge from one generation (Dai) to another.

REFORMA The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking

From Broken Yolks to Party Folks  Great strides in the depiction of minorities in children’s materials BUT….

Challenges and Opportunities Challenges  90 million adults read at or below the basic level.  11 million adults are non-literate in English.  Parents and grandparents are the child’s first teacher.  A child’s success in school depends on the adult’s literacy level Opportunities  Reaching across generations and cultures  Building strong literacy practices in diverse communities  Stepping up and developing library multicultural literacy programs & collecting more multicultural materials  Needing to proliferate the genres by authors and future authors.  Needing publishers to commit to publishing more diverse multicultural materials – print and digital.

Thank you