Building a Culturally Relevant Bookshelf

By Chéleah Googe, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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 or recreated by the author.

DR. RUDINE SIMS BISHOP

The power of literature and the responsibility we have at Beauvoir to curate relevant and responsible bookshelves for our students are integral to our mission to ensure that the unique experience of each child is valued in their learning environment. Making space for each student in our community to feel seen, in all aspects of our school life, significantly contributes to their sense of belonging and subsequent success. We value taking the time at the beginning of each year to assess both the main library and classroom libraries leaning on the scholarship of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the well-known children's literature researcher, and what she describes in her 1990 essay entitled, "Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors": Windows are opportunities for students to use literature as a peek into an experience different from their own. Mirrors are opportunities for students to see themselves, and their lived experiences, reflected in the literature. Sliding glass doors invite students to use their imaginations to step into other worlds through literature.

Last year, Beauvoir’s Social, Emotional, Academic, and Spiritual (SEAS) Team had the amazing opportunity to lead parents and caregivers in a workshop during the annual book fair hosted by the Parents Association. In this workshop, “Building a Culturally Relevant Bookshelf at Home,” parents and caregivers in our community learned how to use this same intentional curation practice for their home libraries. We began by discussing the definition of literacy and how it should be defined beyond just