Who We Are, Who We Can Be: Diverse Biographies

I am the librarian at Alder Elementary School in the Reynolds School District. Reynolds did without certified librarians for over a decade, then brought them back after the pandemic. Our school is 68% non-native English speakers, 100% free lunch, and over 20 home languages spoken. I recently did a diversity audit of our biographies and was disappointed but not surprised to find that 80% of them are about white men. Not only that, but the biographies of BiPOC individuals are overwhelmingly focused on the arts and athletics. And despite having a majority-Latinx school, according to our collection Cesar Chavez and Diego Rivera are the only Latinos of note. I would love to do a major overhaul of our selection. I believe this will help my students feel seen and create a sense of possibility for them.