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This post by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian and YSS Board Member Susie Menk is thinking about where to purchase the wealth of diverse titles when they are not available through large jobbers. And she's wondering....what do you think?
There has been a great deal of talk in library services about equity, diversity, and inclusivity. As a result, has shifted to more inclusive and diverse books. So I’m wondering, what sources do you use for purchasing your books?
Our library mostly buys books from Baker & Taylor, with some books purchased through Amazon. Special collections sometimes have their own distributor, like Thorndike for large print books and Blackstone Audio for audio titles. Foreign language books are ordered from specialized distributors as we can find them. Seedlings Braille Books and Lakeshore Learning give us other specialty books, like Braille copies and big books.
Now we need to find diverse and inclusive books. Unfortunately, many of the regular distributors don’t carry a large selection of diverse and inclusive books so we have to look elsewhere. Many ethnic authors self-publish or publish with smaller, lesser known companies. This makes them hard to find unless they become award winners or bestsellers.
We have tools and websites for checking if a book portrays a culture accurately. Websites like American Indians in Children’s Literature, Hijabi Librarians and CCBC’s Diversity Book Search give us ways to check if a book is true to a specific culture or ethnicity. TeachingBooks through BadgerLink also has lists that can be filtered for various cultural experiences. This is all great, but it still begs the question—where can I purchase these books?
Due to the increased interest and demand for diverse and inclusive books, Baker & Taylor has added a publication on their website called Diversity & Inclusion. Another website is Diverse Book Finder which collects books that are diverse and inclusive and helps identify the traits of books as well as the publishers of the book.
So you look through all these great diverse and inclusive book lists and think “YES, I want that book on my shelves!” and then you go to B&T and can’t find it. Now what? Where do I go? Will my library let me purchase books from other distributors? I might be able to find it on Amazon, but if not, where do I go? Is it easy for you to ask to get books from small independent publishing companies? What about looking at used book websites? Could I partner with a local bookstore and get books that I want through them?
Where do you go for those hard to find little gems of diverse and inclusive books? “Me, myself and I want to know!” (Rita Skeeter, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
2 comments:
The most difficult for me to find have been books by Indigenous and Hmong authors. For Indigenous books, I try Birchbark Books in Minneapolis. I have also purchased Indigenous titles through Oyate. For Hmong books, I've used Hmong ABC in St. Paul. All of these businesses ship. I have also purchased directly from some smaller presses. It does mean I have to get a new business approved through accounting, but it is just a little paperwork and getting their tax id info.
I too end up needing to use Amazon at times for some self published works like those of Zetta Elliott. A few of her books are now available through Follett which is where I purchase the majority of my books. I work in a school library.
Also, the CCBC has this awesome list of small presses https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/small-presses-of-color-native/
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