How beautiful is the We Need Diverse Books campaign? It's been so cool to get on Twitter and see people from all different backgrounds speaking out for books that reflect the diversity of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and nationality in our world.
If you want to join the Twitter conversation, it's still going on! Just send out a tweet that goes something like: "#WeNeedDiverseBooks because...." Get your opinion out there -- I'd like to see how long we can keep it trending. The Guardian, Salon, and Publishers Weekly (among others) have already put out articles about the campaign, so just imagine the change we can encourage with this attention! We can create more demand for diverse books among consumers, inspire authors who want to write more diverse works, and show publishers how important this issue is to so many people.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite tweets from the last couple of days. I'll start with the one that made me tear up:
We shouldn't stop with this social media campaign -- we must continue raising our voices and demanding more diverse children's literature. Fortunately, there are many ways we can make a difference. So...
- Write to publishers -- they are the ones ultimately responsible for what kinds of books are out there.
- Buy more diverse books published in the US and internationally.
- Check out diverse books at the library -- circulation matters!
- Tell friends, teachers, and librarians about your favorites.
- Read books critically and write reviews.
- Authors of all backgrounds: keep telling your stories.
Enjoy!
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