Inclusive Collections: Building the Collection

Annual "curated bibliography highlighting books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning content, aimed at children and youth from birth to age 18."

Database of recommended books from the Anti-Defamation League. Filters allow for sorting by topic.

An extensive and searchable list of diverse titles from the Children's Book Council (CBC) Diversity Committee

Lists and other resources from the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Recent research shows that children's cultural empathy improves when they see cross-cultural friendships in books. Here's a list of books that portray cross-cultural friendships.

From Multicultural Book Day, a non-profit aiming to get more diversity into schools and libraries.

From Lee & Low Books

Book list "created in collaboration with the Melrose Public Schools, the Roosevelt School Parent Teacher Organization, and the Melrose Public Library for children grades K-5, their families, and teachers."

From the Lee & Low blog, lists of books for kids in grades PreK-8. "The mentor texts provided in the Social Activism list can inspire students to address an issue that they are passionate about..."

Diversity and inclusion project from First Book. Includes both recommended book lists, as well as discount purchasing options for non-profit agencies.

Extensive list of lists from Karen Jensen of Teen Librarian Toolbox (Part 3 of the Diversity Audit series)

Extensive list of book lists from the editors at We Need Diverse Books.

A variety of lists representing many communities and voices.

Award-winning educator, Debbie Reese, maintains this extensive site filled with reviews and essays.

"The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Our flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators"

"The CBC Diversity initiative was founded in 2012, as part of the Children’s Book Council’s commitment to promoting diverse voices in literature for young people."

Wide variety of book reviews and thoughts from academic librarian and children's book expert, Edi Campbell.

Book/writing blog of award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith.

"Disability in Kidlit is dedicated to discussing the portrayal of disability in middle grade and young adult literature. We publish articles, reviews, interviews, and discussions examining this topic from various angles—and always from the disabled perspective."

Started in 2011 by authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo. "We celebrate young adult books about all kinds of diversity, from race to sexual orientation to gender identity and disability."

Blog and book reviews from educator, Lee Wind.

Articles, book reviews, and other topics surrounding Latinxs in children's and YA literature.

"We are White librarians organizing to confront racism in the field of children’s and young adult literature." Book reviews, essays, and more from familiar names in the children's literature world.

"Rich in Color is dedicated to reading, reviewing, talking about, and otherwise promoting young adult books (fiction and non-fiction) starring or written by people of color or people from First/Native Nations."

Developed in 2017 by Teaching for Change "to identify and promote the best multicultural and social justice children’s books, as well as articles and books for educators."

A project of the University of Arizona with the goal of "integrating global literature into classrooms and libraries is to challenge children and adolescents to understand and accept those different from themselves, thus breaking cycles of oppression and prejudice between people of different cultures."

MA publisher that believes "books for children should offer accurate information, promote a positive worldview, and embrace a child's innate sense of wonder and fun."

Small, independent publisher that focuses on stories with a connection to the U.S./Mexico border region.

An imprint of HarperCollins, Heartdrum features works by Native American authors. "Heartfelt, groundbreaking, and unexpected, these children’s books emphasize the present and future of Indian Country and the strength of young Indigenous heroes."

The largest multicultural publisher in the United States. In addition to publishing award-winning diverse books, Lee & Low also sponsors the New Voices Writing Award and creates educational and advocacy opportunities for librarians and educators.

"The mission of Rick Riordan Presents will be to 'find, nurture, and promote the best storytellers for middle grade readers,' with the focus on diverse, mythology-based fiction by new, emerging, and under-represented authors."

A new imprint under the direction of Kwame Alexander. "This Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint reflects Alexander’s vision that accessible and powerful prose and poetry—in picture books, novels, and nonfiction—can celebrate the lives and reflect the possibilities of all children."

WNDB anthologies "feature original stories by award-winning authors and exciting new voices, thus supporting our goal to provide more diversity in children's literature."

Extensive list of resources to help library staff and educators create more diverse collections

From novelist Kayla Whaley, who is also an editor at Disability in Kidlit.

New York Times editorial by Denene Millner about the need for more books showing children of color having every day experiences.

The Cooperative Children's Book Center's annual report on diversity in children's publishing.

Articles and research from the team that developed the Diverse Bookfinder tool.

SLJ article by Krista Maywalt Aronson and Anne Sibley O’Brien outlining Aronson's research, which shows that cross-cultural friendships in children's literature are effective at improving kids' acceptance of others.

The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0) was created by Lee & Low Books with co-authors Laura M. Jiménez, PhD, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and Betsy Beckert, graduate student in the Language and Literacy Department of Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

Atlantic interview with Philip Nel, scholar and professor of children's literature at Kansas State University, which addresses what to do about problematic classic children's literature in light of racist imagery and content.

Guide from the Office of Head Start National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness (OHS)

Dashka Slater's analysis of the whiteness of children's literature.

School Library Journal article by author Padma Venkatraman, who argues that so-called "classics" with racist aspects should be replaced with contemporary works by diverse authors.

Founder of Barbershop Books, Alvin Irby, discusses why diverse literature is critical to empathy.

An overview for performing a quick "collection check-up" by teacher/librarian Judith Snyder.

This IMLS-funded tool allows libraries to run a diversity analysis on picture book collections.

This KQED article by Kara Newhouse gives both practical tips as well as specific book recommendations.

Library Media Specialist Kelsey Bogan shares her step-by-step experience doing a diversity audit on her library's collection.

Outline and sources from the Teen Librarian Toolbox series on collection diversity audits.

By Louise Derman-Sparks, based on her article, "10 Quick Ways to Analyze Books for Racism and Sexism"

"How to Tell the Difference: A Guide for Evaluating Children’s Books for Anti-Indian Bias by Doris Seale, Beverly Slapin and Rosemary Gonzales explains Oyate’s very basic criteria for evaluating books about native peoples, or that engage Native themes"

In this ALSC Blog post, school librarian Chelsey Roos shares steps to doing a diversity audit.

"Kirkus Collections helps librarians build and continually update collections curated with both literary merit and thematic issues in mind. Our inaugural lists focus on diversity in children’s and young adult literature and are the result of a process that builds on the diverse voices of Kirkus’ children’s and YA reviewers..."

Librarian Amy Koester discusses why librarians need to confront their own privilege when selecting and promoting books in the library.

Various awards honoring creators from a variety of backgrounds.

An annual annotated book list (or bibliography) of well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content, intended for young readers (ages birth through 18).

"Awarded biennially, the AIYLA identifies and honors the very best writing and illustrations by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America. Books selected to receive the award present Indigenous North American peoples in the fullness of their humanity."

"The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit."

Recognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that authentically portray individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and Down syndrome.

Charged with recognizing and encouraging emerging talent in the field of children’s books.

Titles of interest will be unusual, possibly un-reviewed, have multicultural characters, address topics dealing with difficult situations including (but not limited to) street life, marginalized populations, crime, justice, war, violence, abuse, addiction, homelessness and gangs.

From We Need Diverse Books. "The Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature recognize diverse authors whose works feature diverse main characters and address diversity in a meaningful way."