Mt. Pleasant Library Observation

They devote the entire upstairs to a huge Children’s Room at the Mount Pleasant library. One side of the room has books resting on low shelving or even in crates on the ground.  The low tables have books already laid out as well as puzzles or other such tactile games.  There are a couple of nooks and crannies with oversized pillows or bean bags good for curling up comfortably and reading a book.  This side has more picture books and is clearly geared towards younger children.  The other side of the Children’s Room has computers where students can access the internet or search for particular books.  It also has a few tables where students can read or study.  The shelving is taller with more advanced books, organized by topic: sports, science, history, math, nature/animals, etc.  This side is clearly geared towards older kids.  There is also a large empty space that is easily filled with chairs for special programs like poetry readings.

There are many, many diverse books available at this library.  They have a pretty large bilingual section, mostly in Spanish.  They have clearly considered the population in the neighborhood where there is a large Hispanic community, particularly Salvadorian.  But I also noticed a smaller, but still nice collection of books in Vietnamese.  Having worked in the neighborhood for four years, I began to question how much I actually know about it, wondering if there is a Vietnamese community I haven’t noticed.  It was pretty cool to see one of my own favorite books, Toot & Puddle, written in Vietnamese.

I had no doubt that the books at Busboys & Poets would be diverse since it is run by an organization that promotes “anti-racist, multi-cultural, activist” book titles.  But I thought I would find more biased and out-dated books to interpret critically at the library.  I found it surprisingly difficult. 

I picked up, Exploration ad Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620, by Betsy & Giulio Maestro.   The story of how Christopher Columbus “discovered” America is the most classic misrepresentation of history.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to read the first line of the book explain how Christopher Columbus was not the first to “discover” America.  I was even more surprised to read about the savage treatment of the natives already inhabiting the land, pictures too... shocking!

So I turned to sports books, thinking they would surely be geared more towards boys. Right away, I was drawn to an instructional book about basketball with a boy on the cover.  But once I opened the book, I saw a relatively equitable representation of boys and girls.  I saw a woman on the cover of Volleyball For Fun, by Darcy Lockman.  I thought about how much this is portrayed as a “girls sport,” but like the book about basketball, I saw plenty of photographs of men playing the sport.  In fact, I learned a thing or two about this sport I thought I was pretty familiar with.  The sport was first created for men as an adaptation of basketball.  Who knew?!

Some other diverse books I found:

Jamari’s Drum, by Eboni Bynum & Roland Jackson

(Co-written by master-drummers & illustrated by native Malian artist depict the importance of drumming traditions in Africa.)

We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families, by Todd Parr

(The child-like illustrations portray family members as diverse and unrealistic colors, like blue, yellow, and purple. This quietly addresses issues of race, not only for adoptive children, but also children with bi-racial parents.  This book thoughtfully and simply addresses the question, what makes a family?)

Children Just Like Me: A unique celebration of children around the world, In Association with UNICEF & the United Nations Children’s Fund

(Every two pages profiles and interviews a single child from countries that span the globe, helping make diverse cultures both real and relevant in the similar and different daily activities.)

Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior, by Robert D. San Souci

 (Illustrated by Jean & Mou-Sien Tseng- This Chinese husband/wife team heavily researched the historical time period to ensure they accurately depicted costumes, armor, and weaponry in their illustrations)

The Princess and the Beggar: A Korean Folktale, adapted & illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien

(Though not Korean herself, the author has a strong understanding of the culture.  The daughter of a medical missionary spent thirteen years of her childhood living in Korea.  She gives a feminist perspective in her retelling of the Korean Folktale that already engages the discussion of class and social status.  The back of the book provides an author’s note at the end of the story explaining the historical context of cultural depictions in her illustrations.)