Crash Course in Weeding Library Collections by Francisca Goldsmith

Author:Francisca Goldsmith [Francisca Goldsmith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440836893
Publisher: ABC-CLIO

Picture Books for Children

Your children’s collections should and likely do contain many works that are older because classic children’s works are an important part of the acquisition of cultural literacy, and thus any children’s library collection. You will need to weed this collection frequently for wear and damage. However, also review the collection regularly to find picture books that depict ethnic, ability, and gender stereotypes that are not socially acceptable in your community. Discerning whether the picture book collection skews pro-boy requires looking at that collection as a whole: is there representation of boys and girls in roughly equal numbers? If not, the gender stereotype it promulgates is that girls simply are not interesting as subjects of stories. Among telltale markers of such depictions are stereotyped racial features in illustrations (e.g., Little Black Sambo or The Five Chinese Brothers in its 1938 rendition).

You may not want to remove them from the library and need not, if there is adult interest in the works. However, presenting these as intended for contemporary children can be misleading, if not offensive. Their representational qualities have become outmoded specifically because they were hurtful, however unintentionally or not, in their depictions of gendered behaviors and minorities by writers and illustrators of the relatively empowered majority.

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