JENNIFERARCHULETASANTURE

Personal Background

 

“When you learn to read you will be born again...and you will never be quite so alone again.”

                                                                                                                           Rumer Godden

 

 

The beginning of my journey on the path to professional librarianship started long before I ever was aware that it was a career choice.  I was born in Alameda County in California, and I grew up in San Pablo, California, a small town located in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area.  From an early age, the importance of obtaining an education was stressed to me by my parents.  This was due in part to the circumstances of my parents’ younger lives; they both experienced hardships in obtaining education themselves due to several factors, including poverty and illiteracy. My mother was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan – a place in which education is highly competitive and expensive.  My maternal grandmother, born in rural China, never learned to read and write, and was largely responsible for raising my mother and her sister after my grandfather passed away at an early age.  My mother immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s, in hopes for a better life for herself and for her future children (my sister and myself).  My father was born in the middle of World War II, in northern New Mexico.  My paternal grandfather was of American Indian heritage (Mescalero Apache and Jemez Pueblo), who as a young man during the Great Depression, worked for the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in locations around New Mexico.  My father’s family relocated from their ancestral homeland to Oakland, California during WWII for employment opportunities that were created in the area due to the war.  After attending high school in Oakland, California, my father was unable to attend college because his family could not afford it, and instead worked his way up in the field of finance. 

 

My mother, unable to speak or read English when she first arrived to this country, grew up in a country in which children’s literature was a foreign conception.  My father, while incredibly intelligent and an avid reader, grew up in a different era, in which the importance of preschool and reading to children before entering the formal education system wasn’t stressed.  Because of this, there were not many books in my home when I was a young child.  This, coupled with the fact that the city I grew up in did not have a public library (it has since opened a community branch location in recent years), meant that most of early reading experiences were sporadic in nature.  In fact, my earliest memories of reading are my father reading to me from back issues of Readers’ Digest Magazine that we had in our home.  When I entered the formal schooling system, I wasn’t adequately prepared with the tools that I needed to succeed to read on my own, and subsequently didn’t learn to read until I was late into the 1st grade.  This new skill was quite precious to me; it gave me a sense of pride in being able to do something my mother struggled with herself, and also fostered my independence in being able to complete the task on my own, not having to rely on others.  Reading became one of the greatest joys I had as a child - my hunger for knowledge was insatiable, and I devoured many books from my elementary school’s library.  I had a great love for history in particular; I loved to learn through reading about the ways that others in our world had lived.  Additionally, my love of reading was further fueled by how I excelled in language arts in elementary school, and the praise I received from my teachers. 

 

As a child, I grappled with my own self-identity; I never felt like I fit in because of my mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds.  Many Chinese-American children in this country are enrolled in what is known as “Chinese School”, in which they are taught the Mandarin Chinese language, Chinese reading and writing, and aspects of Chinese culture.  My mother enrolled my sister and me in our local program, but it was something I rejected strongly.  Indeed, I found it quite embarrassing that I had to learn my mother’s native tongue because she struggled with English, and I wanted distance myself from the negativity she received from outsiders about this.  This made me only want to succeed more when it came to language arts, and reading in school, while at the same time I did quite poorly in Chinese School.  Now, as an adult I quite regret my reluctance to learn Mandarin, and I wish I would have taken my classes more seriously.  But I still must acknowledge this helped to fuel my love of information, knowledge, words, books, language, and reading.

 

My mother recognized that I loved to read, but she was unequipped with the knowledge of what exactly I should be reading.  My mother soon discovered the public library in the city she was working in at the time, the Berkeley Public Library (BPL).  She relied heavily on suggested reading lists, segmented by different grade levels, created by the children’s librarians of the BPL.  She diligently checked out every book on each of these lists for me, and kept track of which books I had read on them.  To this day, we still have some of these marked up lists with my mother’s notations in the margins.  I remember one of my first visits to the children’s room of the Berkeley Public Library.  The books on the shelves felt larger to me than any treasure.  The amount of books available staggered me, and I couldn’t believe that I could have the opportunity to read as many of them as I wanted.  My first library card felt like Charlie’s golden ticket from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; providing me with uninhibited access to all which I desired.  The BPL also helped me build up my own small collection of books; the few books I did own were purchased from the annual Friends of the Library book sale, where you could buy musty boxes of discarded library books for a few dollars.  To an outsider, these books may have looked well-worn, damaged, or unimportant, but to me they were my greatest possessions, and I took care of them with pride.

 

I was never a great student at mathematics or the sciences, but my proficiency at reading always managed to save me academically and helped me to succeed.  I wholeheartedly believe that my love of books, and the open access I was granted to the knowledge contained within them at the Berkeley Public Library, changed my life for the better.  This knowledge was able to give me opportunities I otherwise never would have had; I grew up in a place where students were not expected to succeed academically.  I remember when I approached my high school counselor to sign up for the pre-SATs, and she scoffed at the idea that I wanted to attend college.  This made me want to excel academically even more, and I worked incredibly hard during high school.  I took AP and college level courses, participated in many extra-curricular activities such as student government, band, and sports, and was leader of our school’s robotics team.  Additionally, I worked for three years as at a tutoring company during this time.  During my junior year, I was accepted to one of the top public universities in the country, the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

 

While a student at UC Berkeley, I first was exposed to the library world when I worked as a shelver in the Main Stacks of the university’s biggest library.  While I didn’t get to do much in the way of assisting patrons, being a part of library staff helped me to understand the ins and outs of a busy academic library system.  During my final years as a UC Berkeley student, I applied for an entry level position at the Berkeley Public Library.  Soon after, I was hired as a Library Aide at the West Branch of the BPL system.  I worked for over eight years as a Library Aide, and it was truly one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life.  It was deeply meaningful for me to work in the library system that helped foster my love of information and reading.  I owe a great deal to the BPL for shaping the unique individual that I am today, and I approached every day of work with a sense of gratitude and respect because of this. 

 

During my time at the BPL, I quickly began to understand the important and necessary work that librarians perform in their communities.  My passion for library work provided me with many opportunities to get more involved with some of the work my librarian co-workers preformed.  For example, I began with helping out with programs and events; later, I organized programs for children and teens on my own, at my branch library.  I also had the chance to work in a higher job classification, Library Assistant, after taking the required test and shadowing a staff member in that classification for 6 months.  My branch library was closed for about a year for a complete overhaul and rebuild.  During this time, I was temporarily re-located to the Children’s department at our Central (main) Library location.  I was very excited about this, because this is the same children’s room that I visited often when I was a child.  I was given the wonderful opportunity to fill extra hours working on the children’s information desk, when the normal BPL children’s librarians were unavailable.  I was able to strengthen my reference skills and my knowledge of children’s literature through this experience, in addition to trying my hand at many librarian tasks such as creating inventive book/material displays, assisting with programs, and collection management.  Additionally, while an employee at the BPL, I received a scholarship for two years in a row from the Friends of the BPL group to help fund my studies at SJSU. 

 

Professional Goals & Philosophy

 

“When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity…you do not slam it shut behind you…you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.” 

                                                                                                          First Lady Michelle Obama

 

My experiences as a both a public library patron and public library employee helped to shape my professional career goal of entering the field of librarianship.  Specifically, these experiences have shown me the richness that public and youth librarianship can offer, and the difference these careers can make in the lives of individuals and their communities.  Because of this, it is my professional career goal to be a youth librarian in a public library setting.  My life was changed for the better because of the public library; I feel forever indebted to this institution, and I want to be a part of this force to make a positive impact in the lives of youth today.  I believe that we, as a society, must provide the best foundations possible for all children, so that they can grow up and make our world a better place.  Unfortunately, many children and young adults today face a plethora of challenges that puts them at a disadvantage to succeed academically.  I am acutely aware of these challenges, because I faced them myself, but I was able to overcome them because I was able to educate myself through the knowledge I discovered in books, which helped to fill in the gaps of my formal education.  During my time at the San Jose State University (SJSU), School of Information, I have focused my studies on all aspects of youth librarianship; this has included courses on children’s literature, programming, services, and collection development.  This educational foundation helped me to develop a theoretic framework on which to structure and enrich my real-world experiences of working in a public library children’s department. 

 

Youth librarianship in our country has had a long history, and it has evolved today into a profession with several core values.  The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is the largest organization in the United States which is dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children, and its core mission is to create a better future for children through libraries.  The ALSC promotes reading and books through recommendations and lists, advocates for children and children’s librarians, administers major awards including the Caldecott, Newbery, Sibert, and Belpré, and supports the continuing education of members.  The ALSC (2015) believes that “all children, no matter their circumstances or attributes, need and deserve the best opportunities, and envision a future where public libraries are recognized as vital to all children and the communities that support them” (para. 1).  As such, the ALSC (2015) developed the following competencies for librarians and paraprofessionals serving children in public libraries which outline the skills necessary to “ensure children receive the highest quality of library service” (para. 3):

 

I. Commitment to Client Group 

1. Demonstrates respect for diversity and inclusion of cultural values, and continually develops cultural awareness and understanding of self and others.

2. Recognizes racism, ethnocentrism, classism, heterosexism, genderism, ableism, and other systems of discrimination and exclusion in the community and its institutions, including the library, and interrupts them by way of culturally competent services.

3. Recognizes the effects of societal factors, new knowledge and tools, income inequality, health and food insecurity, etc., on the needs of children. 

4. Understands theories of infant, child, and adolescent learning, literacy development and brain development, and their implications for library service.

5. Understands current educational practices, especially those related to literacy and inquiry.

6. Assesses and responds on a regular and systematic basis to the needs and preferences of children, their caregivers, educators, and other adults who use the resources of the children’s department, including those unserved and underserved by the library. 

7. Cultivates an environment for enjoyable and convenient use of library resources, specifically removing barriers to access presented by socioeconomic circumstances, culture, privilege, language, gender, ability, and other diversities.

 

II. Reference and User Services 

1. Creates and maintains a physical and digital library environment that provides the best possible access to materials and resources for children of all cultures and abilities and their caregivers.

2. Instructs and supports children in the physical and digital use of library tools and resources, information gathering, and research skills, and empowers children to choose materials and services on their own.

3. Conducts reference and readers’ advisory interviews to assist children and their caregivers with the identification and selection of materials and services, regardless of format and according to their interests and abilities.

4. Identifies the digital media needs of children and their caregivers through formal and informal customer-service interactions and applies strategies to support those needs.

5. Models customer service with children and their caregivers that is culturally respectful and developmentally appropriate, and works to overcome systems of discrimination, exclusion, and ethnocentrism. 

6. Respects the patron’s right to browse regardless of age, and provides nonjudgmental answers to her or his questions.

7. Demonstrates knowledge of information services available in the community and broader society, and makes appropriate referrals for the library’s diverse constituencies.

8. Models and encourages use of culturally diverse materials and services through bibliographies, booktalks, displays, electronic documents, social media, and other tools.

 

III. Programming Skills 

1. Designs, promotes, presents, and evaluates a variety of programs for children, with consideration of developmental stages and the needs, interests, and goals of all children, their caregivers, and educators in the community.

2. Acknowledges the importance of physical space to engage and foster learning, and establishes appropriate environments for programs that respond to developmental needs and abilities.

3. Integrates appropriate technology in program design and delivery. 

4. Integrates literacy-development techniques in program design and delivery, engaging and empowering caregivers in a culturally competent way. 

5. Identifies and empowers colleagues, coworkers, and community members from diverse backgrounds to contribute ideas and skills for programs and information presentations.

6. Establishes programs and services for parents, individuals and agencies providing childcare, educators, and other professionals in the community who work with children.

7. Delivers programs outside or inside the library to meet users where they are, addressing community and educational needs, including those of unserved and underserved populations.

 

IV.  Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials 

1. Demonstrates knowledge, management, use and appreciation of children’s literature, multimodal materials, digital media, and other materials that contribute to a diverse, current, and relevant children’s collection.

2. Maintains a diverse collection that is inclusive of the needs of all children and their caregivers in the community, and recognizes children’s need to see and learn about people like and unlike themselves in the materials they access. 

3. Advocates for and purchases materials by and about underrepresented communities, addressing the need for more representation of marginalized groups.  

4. Maintains collections in different languages, as appropriate, to remove linguistic barriers to access.

5. Understands and applies criteria for evaluating the content, artistic merit, and cultural authenticity of children’s materials in all genres and formats. 

6. Keeps current by consulting a wide variety of print and digital review sources and publishers’ promotions (including those of independent presses), by attending professional meetings, by considering patron suggestions and popular demand, and by reading, viewing, and listening.

7. Keeps up-to-date on teen and adult digital and print reference sources that may serve the needs of children and their caregivers.

8. Understands and implements the library’s comprehensive collection development policy, and develops, assesses, and revises policy as necessary. Works to ensure that collection policy is consistent with the library’s mission, the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its interpretations, and other relevant standards.

9. Responds to community challenges to materials according to the library’s materials-review policy, collection development policy, the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its Interpretations, and other relevant standards.

10. Demonstrates a knowledge of cataloging, classification, indexing procedures, and practices to support access to children’s materials. 

 

V. Outreach and Advocacy 

1. Defines and communicates the role and scope of public library service for children to administrators, other library staff, and members of the larger community.

2. Utilizes effective public-relations techniques to promote an awareness of and support for meeting children’s library and information needs through all media. 

3. Lobbies on behalf of children for the highest-quality library service, through library governance and the political process.

4. Advocates for eliminating barriers to library service for children based on socioeconomic circumstances, culture, privilege, language, gender, ability, and other diversities, and for overcoming systems of discrimination, exclusion, and ethnocentrism.

5. Ensures that all children have full access to library materials, resources, and services as prescribed by the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its Interpretations.

6. Communicates and collaborates in partnership with other agencies, institutions, and organizations serving children in the community, to achieve common goals and overcome barriers created by socioeconomic circumstances, culture, privilege, language, gender, ability, and other diversities.

7. Successfully communicates library policies and procedures to patrons of all ages, promoting library use and eliminating communication barriers based on linguistic and other diversities.

8. Communicates effectively when addressing or presenting to large or small groups of children and/or adults, writes proficiently and adjusts content, style, and delivery format to accommodate diverse functions and audiences, and possesses technology skills and cultural competencies that enhance communication.

 

VI. Administrative and Management Skills 

1. Actively participates in all aspects of the library’s planning process to represent and support service to children, their caregivers, and educators.

2. Sets long- and short-range goals, objectives, strategic plans, and priorities.

3. Analyzes the costs of library services to children in order to develop, justify, administer, manage, and evaluate a budget.

4. Identifies and evaluates outside sources of funding and writes effective grant applications.

5. Documents and evaluates services and needs assessments through appropriate research methods.

6. Follows federal, state, and local legislation in the development and enactment of library policies and procedures.

7. Demonstrates critical-thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and mediation skills and techniques.

8. Delegates responsibility appropriately and supervises staff constructively.

9. Participates in writing job descriptions, recruiting, interviewing, training, evaluating, and encouraging continuing education for staff who work with children, their caregivers, and educators.

10. Develops and supports organizational values dedicated to fostering culturally competent services.

11. Advocates for recruitment, hiring, and retention efforts to increase diversity in the workplace. 

12. Works to eliminate discrimination, exclusion, and ethnocentrism in the workplace.

 

VII. Professionalism and Professional Development 

1. Acknowledges the legacy of children’s librarianship, its place in the context of librarianship as a whole, and past contributions to the profession.

2. Stays informed of current trends, emerging technologies, issues, and research in librarianship, child development, education, and allied fields.

3. Practices self-evaluation and pursues professional development and continuing education opportunities on an ongoing basis.

4. Develops an understanding of her or his own personal and cultural values, beliefs, and sociocultural identities, including racial, class, and gender identities, as a first step in appreciating the importance of culturally diverse identities in the workplace and wider community.

5. Develops an understanding of the effects of racism, ethnocentrism, classism, heterosexism, genderism, ableism, and other systems of discrimination and exclusion within the profession, and of techniques for disrupting them and promoting cultural competence. 

6. Knows and practices the ALA’s Code of Ethics.

7. Preserves patron confidentiality.

8. Mentors library-school students, paraprofessionals, and new librarians.

9. Participates in local, state, and national professional organizations to strengthen skills, interact with fellow professionals, promote professional association scholarships, and contribute to the library profession.

10. Advocates for, participates in, and provides educational and training programs that help advance cultural competency within the profession.

 

As an aspiring children’s librarian in a public library setting, I am committed to upholding and achieving these ALSC competencies in order to ensure quality library services to all children.  From these broad competencies there are a specific few which form the foundation of my professional philosophy. 

 

First, I uphold every child’s freedom to read and explore the knowledge of the world, and as a librarian I will reject censorship in all of its forms.  Children’s, young adult, and teen materials are often the most contested and challenged in public libraries.  It is important for library professionals who seek to provide these users with the highest quality of services to resist censorship because young people “who are denied the freedom to read lose out on their opportunity to expand their minds and outlook on life when the literature that they read is so sanitized that their critical thinking skills are impaired” (Auguste, 2012, p. 126).  While children’s librarians cannot act in loco parentis, as it is the responsibility of parents and caregivers to monitor their children’s library use, they should be concerned with allowing open access to all young library users, developing balanced collections that present multiple points-of-views and opinions, and providing equal opportunities for all that walk through the library’s doors to expand their knowledge.

 

Second, I champion the notion that children’s librarians must be culturally competent.  This requires that these professionals, who work closely with young people, demonstrate respect for diversity by developing collections which represent many cultures, beliefs, and views of the world, design programs and services that reflect the diversity present in our society, and advocate for the elimination of barriers to library service for all children.  This particular aspect of my professional philosophy is especially close to my heart, because as a child, many of the books that I read did not reflect the diversity of the community I lived in, nor my own unique racial and ethnic background.  Because of this, I grappled for a long time with not only an understanding of who I was, but also of other cultures present in our world.  Indeed, it has been argued that presenting quality and diverse children’s literature in libraries can help children “find their own lives reflected within a book as well as imagine cultural ways of living and thinking beyond their own” (Lynch-Brown, Tomlinson, & Short, 2011, p. 231).  Additionally, research suggests that books can be influential in the development of children’s sociocultural identities, so it is important for children’s librarians to create culturally relevant collections for this population so that they have an opportunity to develop cultural understandings of themselves and others (Doll & Garrison, 2013).  Lack of diversity has also been a consistent issue in the profession of librarianship, with low representation in the field by librarians of color (Rubin, 2010).  With my own diverse background and experiences, I hope to not only add my unique voice to this minority group, but also to advocate for increased representation by traditionally marginalized groups in the profession.

 

Lastly, I believe that children’s librarians should have a strong understanding of the concept of early childhood literacy, and incorporate knowledge of how young people develop cognitively, physically, and emotionally in order to provide appropriate and stimulating programs, services, facilities, and collections.  As William H. Teal (1999) notes, “For generations, it was commonly believed that children began learning to read and write when they entered school at age five or six” (p. 9).  Recent scientific advances and discoveries in the field of early brain development have shown that the brain development of early childhood sets the stage for the rest of a child’s life.  In fact, “ninety percent of a typical child’s brain is developed by the age of 5” (Ward-Cameron, 2013, p. 16).  The experiences and environments of children, which form the basis for their neural foundations, are so crucial at this young age that they can determine “how successful a child will be in school and in life. School and reading readiness translates into life readiness” (Ward-Cameron, 2013, p. 16).  Studies have shown that in the United States, “more than a third of first grade children are not able to read at grade level, and…[this] in turn places them at high risk for overall school failure…along with other childhood and adolescent problems” (Klass, Needlman, & Zuckerman, 2003, p. 652).  The public library is an ideal location to supplement, promote, and reach young children at the beginning stages in their lives, and to support the solid foundations needed to ensure their success as readers and learners later in life.  Children, who may be affected by various stressors that hinder their path to develop necessary emergent literacy skills, can be supported by the offerings of public library. 

 

Competency O

 

Competency O states that each graduate of SJSU’s MLIS program must be able to “contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of our communities.”  Scholar Barbara J. Ford (2008) argues that today’s world necessitates library and information professionals to provide service with a global perspective.  Information is increasingly becoming a more valuable commodity in societies around the world.  Information and library professionals are in a unique position to help make information distribution more equitable around the globe for everyone by providing education about information literacy, sharing resources between institutions and organizations, and by supporting free access and expression of ideas.  This new, globalized world in which we currently exists requires library and information professionals to possess the important skill of cultural fluency, which “includes the ability to listen, learn, exchange ideas, and understand local needs in the global context “ (Ford, 2008, p. 201).  The skill is important because it allows us to “develop a deeper understanding of values, traditions, and cultures and ensure that society fosters the exchange of ideas, information, and knowledge” (Ford, 2008, p. 201).  Ford (2008) provides the following suggestions for library and information professionals to make their libraries more global (pp. 201-203): 

 

• Celebrate diversity.

• Expand and diversify the library’s collection of multicultural and multilingual materials.

• Develop an international dimension to library services.

• Use the Internet to connect to other cultures.

• Promote public awareness of global resources at your library during National Library Week and every week.

• Learn more about global information issues, such as copyright, and how they affect libraries around the world.

• Connect with libraries in other countries.

• Leave home.

• Support libraries overseas by donating funds to purchase materials.

• Increase your global awareness.

• When you are traveling internationally, think of yourself as an ambassador for libraries.

 

As a MLIS graduate student and former public library employee, I have already completed some work related to elevating the cultural, economic, social, and educational well-being of communities, and I hope to continue with this important work as a future professional.  What is important to emphasize is the connection between the local work that librarians do and the global impact that it can have.  Specifically, I argue that children’s librarians in particular are in a unique position to impact the lives of children today, in such a way that will make our world a more equitable, just, and peaceful place.  Two specific areas I have personally contributed to so far, as a non-library professional and graduate student, are supporting and developing the early literacy skills of preschoolers, and celebrating cultural diversity through collection development and children’s programming.

 

Promoting Preliteracy to Preschoolers

 

As mentioned earlier, recent scientific discoveries in early brain development have revealed that children are equipped from birth with the neural foundations required for learning.  Stressors including “poverty, racism, dislocation, and violence can affect a child’s development” (Diamant-Cohen, 2007, p. 41).  When young children are exposed to these stressors, “chemicals are released in the brain that damage its developing architecture” (Diamant-Cohen, 2007, p. 41).  For example, children who do not come from language and text-rich homes do not have the necessary experiences in their lives to properly create the foundations needed once they enter preschool or kindergarten (Klingler, 2008).  Research has found that children from low-income families enter the first grade with only 25 hours of one-on-one reading, whereas children from middle-class families have had up to 1,700 hours (Klingler, 2008).  Children’s librarians in public libraries are in the position to directly reach young children while they are in the early stages of their development through quality programming and materials, and by educating parents and caregivers about appropriate early literacy techniques. 

 

As a former public library employee, I have had many opportunities to suggest developmentally appropriate books for young children while conducting readers’ advisory conversations with their parents and caregivers.  Additionally, I have assisted some of my library’s children’s librarians with programming aimed at young children.  For example, I helped run a five week Family Place parent-child playshop together with my branch’s children’s librarian.  This program provided a space for very young children to participate in unstructured play with their parents and caregivers.  I was in charge of setting up/breaking down different play areas, passing out snacks, interacting with parents and children, and supervising play. 

 

In the fall of 2013, I had the opportunity to participate as a volunteer story reader for the Oakland Public Library early literacy program, Books for Wider Horizons.  This program trains volunteers to present weekly storytimes to preschoolers at partnering Head Start and Oakland United School District centers throughout the city of Oakland, CA.  The purpose of the program is to introduce “young children to the pleasure of stories and inspiring excitement about books and reading” (Oakland Public Library, n.d., para. 1).  I began presenting weekly story times the following spring at De Colores Head Start, which is located in the Fruitvale district of Oakland.  This area of Oakland is very diverse, and this was reflected in the classroom of preschoolers I worked with every week.  Children enrolled in Head Start programs often come from economically disadvantaged households, which as discussed earlier, is a stressor for obtaining a proper early literacy foundation.  With help by volunteers of Books for Wider Horizons, such as myself, these children who are potentially pre-dispositioned for academic issues in the future are able to be impacted positively.  It was my goal every week, not to teach children a specific lesson or moral through my story time programs, but rather to foster a love of language, books, and stories.  It was especially meaningful for me to volunteer at this particular Head Start location, because my father grew up just a few blocks from its location.  Additionally, I had previously worked with youth in the area during my undergraduate years as a volunteer tutor for the Native American Health Center, which is also located a few blocks away from the De Colores Head Start.

 

I know from first-hand experience what it is like to not receive the proper early literacy support required by every child before entering the formal school system.  I did not attend preschool as a child, and my parents largely did not read aloud to me; because of this, I struggled academically and grappled with the task of learning to read.  I was lucky to develop a love for language, books, and reading despite my disadvantages – but not every child who faces the same challenges will reach this outcome alone.  Because of their long history of connecting children with books, public libraries and children’s librarians are uniquely situated to serve the developmental preliteracy needs of children.  In addition to providing traditional programs and services to children, children’s librarians are also in an ideal position to directly connect with and educate parents about the importance of sharing books with their children, and to partner with community organizations also vested in the well-being of all children.  When children are given solid early literacy foundations, they enter the school system ready to learn, and destined for academic success.  Children’s librarians can work together with children, parents, and caregivers to help develop this foundation to ensure that not only will these children have a brighter future, but we all will.

 

Celebrating Diversity

 

Another aspect of contributing to the well-being of our global communities at a local level that I have participated in is the celebration of diversity through quality children’s programming and materials.  As discussed earlier, our world is becoming more connected than ever before, due in part to advances in technology, communication, and the Internet.  This globalization of our local communities has especially been evident in our in our education system.  Classrooms in the United States today are experiencing the largest influx of immigrants since the early 1900s, which has led to an increasingly diverse ethnic and racial student population (Lynch-Brown, Tomlinson, & Short, 2011).  As argued by authors Carol Lynch-Brown, Carl M. Tomlinson, and Kathy G. Short (2011), “knowledge of the world and of diverse cultures is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.  Children need understandings of both the diverse cultural groups within their own country and of global cultures that cross outside of their borders” (p. 213).  Children’s librarians are able to meet young peoples’ need for multicultural education through diverse library programming, and well-developed collections which present different cultures, beliefs, ideas, and points-of-view.

 

Multicultural library programs that are lively, entertaining, informative, and hands-on can be fun for the whole family.  Programs for children where stories, food, dance, and other aspects of culture are shared can be both enjoyable and important learning experiences.  When booking performers for programs, or creating programs from scratch, children’s librarians must be cognizant of cultural sensitivity, respect, and authenticity.  For example, I had the chance to attend the 2013 Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California’s (ACL) Performers Showcase event.  The purpose of this all-day event is to give local children’s librarians a chance to experience a small sampling of performance acts, with the possibility of booking these performers for their library programs.  One of the performers at the showcase was a storyteller who advertised her bilingual English-Spanish storytelling skills.  She told us a fairly entertaining story, primarily in English, with just a little Spanish mixed in.  As the story progressed, I began to realize that every character who would speak in Spanish, or had a Latino name, was given a very stereotypical accent (akin to speaking style of the animated character, Speedy Gonzales).  This is an example of a performer that I would not invite to my library, despite her overall engaging storytelling performance, because of her perpetuation of an inappropriate stereotype. 

 

As a library employee, I had the opportunity to assist with children’s programming events, and even had the chance to present my own.  An example of a children’s multicultural event that I held at my branch library was a Lunar New Year event.  I presented stories from multiple Asian cultures to present background information about this celebration, and afterwards I led participants in a culturally-appropriate craft hour.  Sometimes, children’s librarians will be faced with planning events for cultural groups they are not a part of.  A suggestion to those planning such events is to partner with a local cultural community organization.  This partnership will not only help to divide up the work, provide an opportunity to tap into the organization’s contacts, and to help advertise to those who may not be library users, but it can also help as a checks system for performers to ensure quality and authenticity.  Though I haven’t had the chance to partner with other organizations yet, I did create a detailed 12-month children’s department programming plan for LIBR-260A (see Competency D, Evidence 2), in which I provide several ideas for multicultural programs that partner with local cultural organizations.

 

Another way that children’s librarians can help enrich the well-being of their communities by celebrating diversity is through the development of quality cultural literature collections.  These collections should include both multicultural and international literature.  In the United States, multicultural education was developed in the 1960s “as a response to the growing awareness of the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of non-European American descent peoples in educational texts and tenets” (Moreillon, 2013, p. 35).  Children’s librarians, in turn, responded to multicultural education by developing multicultural literature collections, which is defined as literature that is “published in the United States and portrays diverse American cultures.  Typically, this literature is related to the major non-European American cultural groups in the United States – African American, Asian American, Latino, and American Indian” (Moreillon, 2013, p.35).  Due to the growing diversity present in classrooms today, which stems from greater immigration, there has developed a greater need for international literature which can play a role in the development of children’s global understandings.  Judi Moreillon (2013) defines international literature as works “originally published in countries other than the United States and then brought to this country” (p. 35).  Both quality multicultural and international literature collections are needed in children’s departments of libraries because they can help youth develop cultural competence, and prepare them “for living and working in a global society” (Moreillon, 2013, p. 37).  While these books can certainly help children who come from diverse backgrounds and cultures to foster their identity development, this literature can also benefit all children as it allows them to develop understanding and appreciation for cultures and ethnicities other than their own, in addition to highlighting the universality of our shared human experience (Arsenault & Brown, 2007).  There are several considerations that librarians responsible for developing quality and authentic multicultural and international collections must keep in mind.  Especially important is examining potential materials for cultural authenticity, which is an analysis of the item to determine the extent to which it reflects “the core beliefs and values and depicts the details of everyday life and language for a specific cultural group” (Lynch-Brown, Tomlinson, & Short, 2011, p. 219).  Other important criteria that should be considered when evaluating and selecting these materials include (Lynch-Brown, Tomlinson, & Short, 2011, p. 219): 

 

• Authenticity of cultural beliefs and values from the perspective of that group. Research the background of the author and illustrator to determine their experiences or research related to this story.  Examine the values and beliefs of characters and whether they connect to the actual lives of people from within that culture.

 

• Accuracy of cultural details in text and illustrations. Examine the details of everyday life, such as food, clothing, homes, speech patterns, and so on, represented in the book and whether they fit within the range of experiences of that culture.

 

• Integration of culturally authentic language. Look for the natural integration of the language or dialect of a specific cultural group, especially within dialogue.  Some terms or names in the original language of translated books, for example, should be retained.  Check whether a glossary is included if needed.

 

• Power relationships between characters. Examine which characters are in roles of power or significance in a book, with a particular focus on how the story is resolved and who is in leadership and action roles.

 

• Perspectives and audience. Look at whose perspectives and experiences are portrayed and who tells the story.  In particular, consider whether the story is told from a mainstream or European-American perspective about ethnically or globally diverse characters.  Also consider whether the intended audience is children from within that culture or if the book was written to inform a mainstream audience about a particular culture.

 

• Balance between historic and contemporary views of groups. The majority of literature about global and ethnic cultures is found in the genres of traditional literature and historical fiction, creating stereotypes of these cultures as dates and set in the past.  Search for books that reflect contemporary images to add to your collection.

 

• Adequate representation of any group within a collection. No one book can definitively describe a culture or cultural experience.  Look for a range of books that provide multiple representations of a culture and be aware of particular images that are overrepresented.  These overrepresentations and generalizations reflect stereotypes of a particular group.

 

During my time as a public library employee and MLIS student, I had several opportunities to celebrate multicultural and international diversity through collection management.  First, in LIBR-266, I helped to create a collection development manual for a fictional children’s department in a public library department.  The manual (see Competency F, Evidence 1) includes specific procedures for the selection of multicultural materials, with consideration given to using tools such as children’s multicultural literature awards and suggested lists from professional library organizations to help develop culturally authentic collections.  Second, as a library employee, I had the opportunity to create several book displays at my branch library (see Competency D, Evidence 4), in which I included a diverse array of materials from a variety of cultures.  Lastly, during my weekly storytime program at De Colores Head Start (see Competency G, Evidence 3), I evaluated and selected high quality and authentic multicultural and international works that I presented to my preschoolers.  This was especially crucial for two reasons.  First, the majority of the students in my class were of Latino descent, and Spanish was usually their first language.  Though my own Spanish speaking skills are basic (I studied the language in high school and college), I attempted to include books during story time that incorporated some Spanish in order to include an aspect of my students’ culture into the program.  Second, it was important for me to carefully vet potential books to make sure the ones I chose to use for story time did not contain stereotypes.  These included both books I chose to use for my storytime that represented the cultures from which my students were from, in addition to those they were not from.  Overall, it was my goal with each of these efforts to develop accurate, honest, and authentic multicultural and international children’s collections in order to prepare this population for the global world we live in; I hope to continue these efforts as a future library professional.

 

Conclusion

 

My professional goal of becoming a children’s librarian in a public library setting was deeply influenced by my personal experiences as a young library user.  My time as a SJSU MLIS student helped me to develop the foundation for my professional philosophy, which includes supporting the intellectual freedom of all children, celebrating the diversity that exists in our world through developing quality children’s programming and collections, and supporting the healthy development of young children with appropriate programming and services.  As a public library employee and intern, I had the opportunity to put some of these aspects of my professional philosophy into action, and to get an understanding of the real-world work performed by children’s librarians every day.  I must acknowledge that I would not be the person that I am today, nor would I have been afforded the academic opportunities I was so lucky to receive, without the influence of the public library on my life.  As a future library professional, I openly accept my responsibility to help enrich the lives of all children in the same way that my own life was improved.  I hope to continue the work that I started as a MLIS student as a future library professional, and to positively impact the lives of the children of today, who will shape our tomorrow. 

 

References

 

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