I struggle with addressing the importance of diversity accurately, but fundamentally I think Ruth Bader Ginsberg sums it up best:

 

 

Every child should read about how other children live and about alternative experiences, and I don’t think we should limit this to a certain percentage or context. Until children can pick up a book and not be surprised that a character looks like them (or doesn’t look like them), we have work to do. It’s vital that the resources children engage with are noticeably representative (there are many studies which show even animals are more likely to be male in books, so the argument that animals or monsters are equally representative doesn’t work). For more on this, watch the SLA's webinar "Representation for All" – available for NACE members until the end of January 2021.

 

If we look at BookTrust Represents' interim research and CLPE’s Reflecting Realities survey of ethnic representation in UK children’s literature, both report some positive progress in recent years:

• 3% growth in the number of authors and illustrators of colour published in the UK in the last two years.
• 7% of the children’s books published in the UK over the last three years feature characters of colour.

This is progress, but the pace of change doesn’t yet seem to match the level of the discussion which has taken place. I’m hopeful that the new initiatives launched in light of the events of this year will lead to a significant increase on these figures next year. In the meantime, how can schools ensure their resources are diverse, representative and inclusive?

For many schools, the topic of diversity and inclusion prompted self-evaluation this year. An audit of the curriculum and/or resources may have taken place, though this can be done in many different ways. Here are some core questions to ask when thinking about diversity within your resources:

• How many of your resources are written by ethnic minorities or people seen less in the public eye? This may include consideration for UK-based ethnic minorities, authors with disabilities, authors from working-class backgrounds. 
• How many of the resources reflect stories from these groups? When thinking about this, consideration should also be given to how those characters are represented; if every story which includes a black character shows them suffering abuse, it embeds a story overall. Are these stories “issues” stories, or simply great stories with authentic characters? Are they suitable for discovery alone, or do they need a conversation and some scaffolding beforehand? (There was a very interesting and upsetting discussion around the impact of “Of Mice and Men” on pupils and teachers recently – you can read it about it in this Twitter thread.) 
• How often do you create displays around these characters, authors, books? Celebrate these authors alongside their mainstream colleagues, rather than as part of Black History Month or awareness days, as consistently “including” them in this way may actually send a message of “othering” as opposed to inclusion. 
• Are your resources providing a broad range of experiences and perspectives? Match the resources to the cohort, absolutely, but include resources for wider awareness as well. For example, resources about travellers are important for the travelling community; but they’re also important for representing an alternative narrative to the stereotype which is so easily absorbed, so should also be available in schools without those cohorts. 
• Is your school collection keeping pace? Ensuring representation and inclusion doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an in-depth knowledge of the school’s resource collection, it can be supported or hindered by the collection policy, and it does require funding. There are equity issues with schools which are not funding their resources sufficiently; these schools are often pushed to get resources from donations or charity shops, and while there may be an occasional bargain to be found, these should not form the basis of a collection. Publishers have been increasingly proactive in paying attention to these issues, and are constantly scanning and reacting to the world around them. The books produced in the last year or two will take a long time to filter through to donations (most often as children grow up or out of books), so if schools rely on donations/second-hand purchases, this delays the impact of changes and leaves some children missing out.

Diversity should also be reflected in the type of resource encountered. Throughout this blog I’ve used the word resources instead of “book” – this is not just because schools should be considering all their resources, but also because “book” can be taken to have a very narrow meaning. Resources, in this blog, means fiction books, information books, e-books, audio books, graphic novels, poetry books, wordless books, picture books and much more. Teachers are incredibly good at selecting the right resource for the right piece of work, but we also need to be mindful of the overall messaging when all those resources are put together, and those with responsibility for the school library need to make sure that representation, inclusion, and importantly choice, are available to all pupils. 

• Free webinar: "Representation for All". The SLA has written multiple articles on this topic and provided a free webinar for SLA members. The webinar recording is available for NACE members until the end of January 2021. Watch the webinar here.
• Share your views: UK School Library Survey 2020. The SLA is partnering with Softlink on a survey into key issues for school libraries in 2020; and indeed one of the questions is about how schools and school libraries have responded to the varying key themes of this year. Children are curious and will have had a huge number of questions about different things throughout this year; schools are key allies in supporting their learning journey through these cultural issues, and we’d like to know how these subjects have been tackled. Take part in the survey here.
  
• Blog post: Librarians under lockdown: rising to the challenge – Bev Humphrey, Literacy and Technology Consultant and Digital Content Manager at the SLA, shares some of the ways in which school librarians have risen to meet the challenges of lockdown life.
• Blog post: 6 signs your school library is meeting the needs of all learners –  SLA Chief Executive Alison Tarrant outlines six signs your school library is providing challenge, stimulation and support for all learners.
• New reading list for able readers at KS3. NACE trustee Sue Mordecai has compiled a list of recommended reading for able readers in key stage 3, available in the templates and checklists section of the NACE members' resource library (login required). This is a working list and one we will continue adding to. To share your suggestions for this list, or for other age groups, please contact communications@nace.co.uk.