Diversity in publishing : WNDB scholarships address barriers to entry

An effort by authors, readers, librarians, educators, and others to diversify publishing is a major issue affecting Library and Information Science. In its June 1 issue, Publishers Weekly reported that authors are taking matters “into their own hands” to address the lack of diversity in publishing (Maher 2020).

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) will award two $2,500 grants to “support interns from diverse backgrounds working in adult publishing” (WNDB, 2020). The grant is being financed by author Celeste Ng, who cofounded WNDB.

This issue has significance for me, both personally and professionally. With conviction that I derive from being an “invisible” minority (I am on the autism spectrum), I want to ensure that my library’s collection mirrors its customers’ diversity. Moreover, I wish for these portrayals to be respectful and accurate.

Activists often refer to an essay by Bishop in 1990, in which she argued that children’s literature needs to serve as “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” into another person’s life.

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.” (Bishop 1990).

The problem, Bishop reported, is that non-white readers often found it futile to seek their mirrors in books. “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part” (ibid).

As an example of contemporary reference to Bishop’s landmark work, here are Aronson, Callahan, and O’Brien in their 2018 study, “Messages Matter: Investigating the Thematic Content of Picture Books Portraying Underrepresented Racial and Cultural Groups”:

“When children find themselves reflected in a book mirror, or when they catch a glimpse of people different from them through a book window, what are they seeing? What types of portrayals are they encountering, and what do those images convey?” (Aronson 2018:165).

Progress toward diversity can be tracked in statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) in the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2018, from among 3,653 books received by the CCBC, the CCBC documented the following:

• 202 books by, and 405 books about Africans or African Americans
• 38 books by, and 55 books about, American Indians / First Nations 
• 351 books by, and 314 books about Asian Pacific or Asian Pacific Americans and 
• 197 books by, and 249 books about Latino / Latina people (CCBC 2019a).

The CCBC added that “Many of the remaining books are about White people, and a few of them are about brown-skinned characters with no cultural or racial specificity. But every year there are also numerous books with anthropomorphized animal characters, as well as picture books with characters who are trucks, crayons, dragons, etc.” (CCBC 2019b).

Activists point with concern to the fact that, even though more diverse books are being published today, the industry remains overwhelmingly white. A 2019 survey conducted by Lee and Low revealed that the publishing industry is dominated by cis-gender white people and people who identify as straight or heterosexual (2020).

The importance behind the two scholarships being offered by WNDB is that they seek to eliminate barriers to entry by low-income applicants. “A job in publishing often requires experience like an internship—often unpaid or low-paid—before you can get hired. This shuts out many people who can’t afford that. But their voices are exactly what we need to acquire, publish, and champion stories that often go overlooked. The goal of these grants is to make internships (and hopefully careers) in publishing more accessible, so we can increase diversity in publishing from the ground up” (Ng, 2020).

WNDB noted that, since 2015, it has awarded 44 grants to interns in children’s book publishing and that “30 eligible interns have been hired into full-time positions in the publishing industry” (WNDB 2020).

Works Cited

Aronson, K. M., Callahan, B.D., and O’Brien, A.S. (2018). “Messages Matter: Investigating the Thematic Content of Picture Books Portraying Underrepresented Racial and Cultural Groups.” Sociological Forum, Vol. 33, No. 1, March 2018: Pages 165-185.

Bishop, R.S. (1990). “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Reading is Fundamental, Jan. 3, 2015. Reprinted from Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, Vol. 6, No. 3, Summer 1990. Retrieved March 1, 2020. (https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf)

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (2019). Publishing Statistics on Children’s/YA Books about People of Color and First/Native Nations and by People of Color and First/Native Nations Authors and Illustrators, Nov. 21, 2019. Retrieved Dec. 7, 2019. (https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp)

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (2019). Frequently Asked Questions About the CCBC’s Statistics on Diversity in Publishing, Nov. 21, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2020. (https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/statsfaqs.asp)

Lee and Low. (2020). “Where is the Diversity in Publishing? The 2019 Baseline Survey Results.” The Open Book Blog, Jan. 28, 2020. Retrieved Feb. 3, 2020. (https://blog.leeandlow.com/2020/01/28/2019diversitybaselinesurvey/)

Maher, J. (2020). “Authors Take Publishing’s Diversity Issue into Their Own Hands.” Publishers Weekly, May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020. (https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/83462-authors-take-publishing-s-diversity-issues-into-their-own-hands.html)

Ng, C. (2020). Posts to Twitter on March 4, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020. (https://twitter.com/pronounced_ing/status/1235198677716697091)

We Need Diverse Books. (2020). “We Need Diverse Books Launches New Internship Grants For Adult Publishing.” We Need Diverse Books, March 4, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020. (https://diversebooks.org/we-need-diverse-books-launches-new-internship-grants-for-adult-publishing/)

Compiled as part of a grad-school application for a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science