As part of the 150th Anniversary, the University Libraries and College of Education and Social Work are celebrating the unveiling of the Rudine Sims Bishop African American Children’s Book Collection. Dr. Bishop graduated in 1959 from what was then West Chester State Teachers College and went on to be considered “the mother of multicultural literature.” She is best known for her theory of the importance of Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors in children’s literature. Her collection of diverse children’s literature has been generously donated to the university.
We invite you to diversify your personal libraries as part of this celebration. To encourage a love of reading, we must make sure children see their lives mirrored in the books they read. This can be especially difficult for Black, Indigenous, and other children of color because more children’s books are published with animals as protagonists than non-white children (Cooperation of Children’s Book Center). It’s also essential for children to have windows into the lives of others who don’t look like them or experience the world in the same way. To help expand your personal library of children’s books, Education Librarian Katelyn Manwiller has curated a list of resources to find diverse titles and learn more about the importance of representation in children’s literature:
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