School librarians have a responsibility to develop and maintain a culturally diverse collection that supports the development of a culturally and globally literate school community.

1. Building a Culturally Diverse
Library Collection
Allison Mackley
April 2010

2. Finding a Framework
The following presentation will aid school
librarians in answering the following questions:
• What policies support diversity in school?
• What does it mean to be culturally or globally
literate?
• What responsibility does the school librarian
have to develop a culturally diverse collection?

3. Board Policy
Many schools have policies that relate to
cultural diversity:
– Nondiscrimination in School and Classroom
Practices
– Nondiscrimination in Employment/Contract Practices
– Recognition of Religious Beliefs
Regardless of policy, the lack of cultural
literacy, however, may lead to gross
misunderstandings of culture and a lack of
confidence in a truly diversified educational
environment.

4. A Classroom as Wide as the World
Because our students must compete,
connect and collaborate with people from
all around the world, providing
opportunities for experiences that
promote global awareness is essential.

5. Identity
Where students are in relation to their
own identity and culture and the identity
and cultures of students around them will
affect to some degree how they relate
potentially to every other individual in the
room—including us, the teachers.
Dilg (2003)

6. Global Learning
Global literacy includes the following elements:
• Knowledge of other world regions, cultures, economies,
and global issues
• Skills to communicate in languages other than English,
to work in cross-cultural teams, and to assess
information from different sources around the world
• Values of respect for other cultures and the disposition
to engage responsibility as an actor in the global
context

7. Reading Within and Across Cultural Lines
Building relationships between the classroom
teacher and the librarian can help to encourage
the following:
– Critical thinking in reading, interpreting and
responding to multiple perspectives of global
diversity
– “Ethical Contact” with unfamiliar worlds that might
help to change the school community’s notion of
diversity

8. Evaluating Multicultural Resources
Besides the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution and the Library Bill of Rights,
there are few guidelines available to
school librarians to aid in the evaluation
and selection of multicultural literature.

9. Making Race Visible
Multicultural literature should allow
readers to reflect upon their own lives
and also encourage readers to look into
the life of others.

10. Criteria for Collection Development
• Accuracy – cultural, diversity among characters, language,
and historical accuracy
• Authenticity – ensuring the author is a member of the culture
• Expertise – consider the qualifications of the author,
illustrator or other creator
• Respect – assess stereotyping, tone and power distribution
• Purpose – evaluate the significance and uniqueness of the
setting
• Quality – judge the overall quality and truth of the work

11. Transforming Our Schools
Because school libraries are part of a
larger school system, it is essential to
have policies and procedures to guide
decision-making.

12. Obligation to the Profession
…choosing to work with literature from multiple
cultures reflects a commitment to supporting
artistic integrity, to deepening in our students
the practice of critical thinking, to broadening
their understanding of the world and
themselves in the world, to fostering cross-
cultural dialogues and communication, and to
embracing the ideals which we have sought to
define ourselves as a nation.
- Dilg

13. Resources
• Greene, S., & Abt-Perkins, D. (2003). Making race visible: literacy
research for cultural understanding. New York: Teachers College
Press.
• Agosto, D. (2007). Building a multicultural school library: issues and
challenges. Teacher Librarian, 34(3), 27-31. Retrieved from Library,
Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.
• American Library Association. (n.d.). Library bill of rights. ALA | home
- American Library Association. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from
http://staging.ala.org/ala/aboutala
• Center, C. (2005). Desperately looking for meaning: reading
multiethnic texts. MELUS, 30(2), 225-241. Retrieved on March 17,
2010 from Academic Search Elite database.
• Dilg, M. (2003). Thriving in the multicultural classroom: principles and
practices for effective teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Derry Township School District (a). (2004, March). Board policy 103
Nondiscrimination in school and classroom practices. Hershey, PA.
• Derry Township School District (b). (2004, March). Board policy 104
Nondiscrimination in employment-contract practices. Hershey, PA.

14. Resources continued
• Derry Township School District (c). (2004, March). Board policy 109
Resource materials. Hershey, PA.
• Derry Township School District (d). (2004, March). Board policy 136
Recognition of religious beliefs and customs. Hershey, PA.
• Downs, E., & Shoemaker, J. (2009). The school library media policy and
procedure writer. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
• Hogan, M. (2006). Making contact: teaching, bodies, and the ethics of
multiculturalism. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies,
28(3/4), 355-366. doi:10.1080/10714410600873241.
• Jacobs, H. H. (2010). Curriculum 21: essential education for a changing
world. Alexandria: ASCD.
• Rajput, T. (2009). Questioning your collection. Knowledge Quest, 38(1),
62-69. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology
Abstracts database.
• Scales, P. R. (2009). Protecting intellectual freedom in your school
library: scenarios from the front lines (Intellectual Freedom Front Lines).
Washington, D.C.: American Library Association.
• York, S. (2008). Culturally speaking: booktalking authentic multicultural
literature. Library Media Connection, 27(1), 16-18. Retrieved on March
17, 2010 from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
database.