One School’s Inclusive Library
Anav Ledersnaider and Bari Raab
Following a professional development opportunity about issues of diversity and equity in early childhood classrooms, preschool teachers Anav and Bari decided to make a change in their school’s library. Located just outside Chicago, their school features 10 classrooms, from an infant room to pre-k classrooms. Anav and Bari have both taught for several years in three-year-old, four-year-old-, and 5-year-old classrooms, observing how children at these ages develop the language and social skills to identify themselves, their families, their friends, and their communities. While the school’s beliefs are quite progressive – in both pedagogy and social issues, the demographic is very homogenous: nearly all students are white and middle class. The school practices a Reggio philosophy, meaning generally that a) play is essential, b) children’s interests lead the curriculum, and c) observation and documentation play a large role in teachers’ responsibilities. The focus on observation and documentation of the children’s play leads to an emergent curriculum: teachers use children’s comments, opinions, inquiries, and experiments as a guideline for creating interesting and ever-changing opportunities for further exploration and learning. Anav and Bari wondered how they could combine their school’s commitment to honoring children’s interests and identities with their learning from social justice and equity related professional development. They decided that one answer was to extend and organize the school’s library.
They began going through the school’s existing books, finding those with diverse characters, ideas, and high-quality representation. The ultimate goal was to organize and make these books easily accessible for all teachers and all classrooms in the school. After going through the books in the school library and purchasing many more, they organized the books into categories: Race and Ethnicity, Families, Kindness and Inclusion, Special Needs, Religion, Social Issues and Change, and Gender Identity and Exploration. In the school library, teachers can now find labeled bins with books pertaining to these topics, including We March by Shane Evans, Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang, It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr, Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall, and Introducing Teddy by Jessica Walton. Teachers are encouraged to check out a whole bin for a week at a time. This way, children can interact with the books over a longer period of time, gaining deeper experience through repetition. The extended time with the books, and the conversations and play that stem from the books, offer children opportunities to more meaningfully internalize their themes and messages. Anav and Bari have received only positive feedback from teachers throughout the school since the book bins went live in April of 2021. Here’s what they had to say about the process:
1. Can you describe how and why you created the inclusive book bins? What were your goals?
We created the library because we realized that our classroom was lacking in diversity, equity, and inclusion. We knew we had books in the school but didn’t have a good system to access them. We originally were just thinking about our class but expanded when we realized the whole school would benefit from a new system.
2. How would you describe the experience of creating the bins? What kind of inclusive literature did the school have already, and what was the process of purchasing more?
a. We were lucky enough to receive collections of books from professional development opportunities, which hadn’t really been integrated into our library yet. We used this as a jumping off point. When we told teachers about what we were doing, some jumped in and offered to add books from their personal collections as well. We hope to continue to order more books over time as we find holes in the collections.
b. We used the books we had and sorted them into capsule collections based on different topics and themes, including gender identity. We’ve noticed this particular topic has come up more and more in our school and feel that it is especially relevant. We also are encouraging the classrooms to use the whole collection instead of just a book here and there to explore a theme more deeply.
3. How did other teachers respond to the book bins and how often have they been used? What feedback have you received from teachers who have used them?
The overall response from the whole school was exceedingly positive. Everyone was excited and supportive. Some teachers began to use books while other classrooms did research on new books to add to the collection. We recently relaunched the collection at the beginning of the school year and teachers have begun to check out the books. We expect to hear more feedback as the year goes on.
4. What were some challenges you faced in this process? How did you overcome them?
Finding time in our day was one of the bigger challenges we faced. It was hard to find time during our day, so we made the most of nap time most days to work on the library. It also took us some time figuring out what system we wanted to use and how we wanted to organize the books.
5. What are some of the most interesting conversations you have had, have overheard, or have heard about from other teachers in relation to the books you have provided?
We’re already seeing discussions based on the books we bring into the classroom. Having a whole collection about one theme/topic helps children to have deeper discussions. We have also seen these themes come through in play (i.e., 2 moms in dramatic play, color preferences, etc.)
6. What advice do you have for other teachers who want to follow your example and create something similar?
Just get started and be flexible. It will never be perfect but it’s ok to adjust as you go. The hardest step is starting!
