CURATING THE COLLECTION

By Susan Polos, Middle School Librarian

>> Literature is powerful. According to Rudine Sims Bishop, professor emerita at The Ohio State University, books can validate our own experiences as mirrors, provide new perspectives as windows, and take us into worlds we can only imagine as sliding glass doors. Uma Krishnaswami, an author and professor at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, expanded upon the metaphor, explaining that literature can also function as a prism, disrupting status quo thinking and challenging fixed ideas through “intersecting identities, settings, cultural contexts, and histories.”

When curating our school library collections, GCDS librarians ensure that students have access to a wide range of materials which represent mirrors, windows, sliding glass doors, and prisms for all members of our community. When possible, librarians preview advance copies of books, and they also carefully read reviews in professional journals, paying special attention to books with starred reviews and those that win literary awards. On January 24, the American Library Association’s 2022 Youth Media Awards were announced. The first and oldest book award for children’s literature, the Newbery Award, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. On the same day, the GCDS librarians hosted an evening presentation for parents about the power of literature.

This year’s winning Newbery Medal book, The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera also won the Pura Belpré Author Award, an award given to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose

GCDS Mock Newbery Group: (l to r) Front: Henry Gittes, Mia Karish, Samantha Packard, Lily Cipolla Back: Nate Weintraub, Kate Chandra, Nate Smith, Kristina Estock, Scarlet Li, Molly Behrend work portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. This year’s Newbery Honors included Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca; A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger; Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff, which also won the Stonewall Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature; and Watercress by Andrea Wang, which also won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Picture Book.

The manual for the actual Newbery Selection Committee was amended just six years ago to include guidelines asking jury members to be open to considering experiences that are both familiar and unfamiliar to them. The change in the Newbery jury manual and the shift to recognizing more diverse books has been a long time in coming. For many years, an often all-white Newbery jury would select titles that mirrored their own experiences. The result was that many outstanding books were overlooked, and thus awards such as the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and the Pura Belpré Book Awards were created. The purpose of these awards was not only to recognize and reward diverse authors who otherwise were not receiving these honors, but also to remind publishers that there is a larger reading public than represented by the Newbery winners of the past.

Here at GCDS, students in fifth grade at Upper Elementary and Middle School students are invited to join a Mock Newbery group and read selected titles that represent a range of genres among eligible titles. The librarian facilitators provide discussion questions, which include asking the readers to consider whether the books they read are mirrors or windows. (Did the characters remind you of you or your family? Did learning about the way the characters lived show you what life was like for other people?)

GCDS Mock Newbery Group

The GCDS Mock Newbery group voted last year and this year for books by diverse authors. Last year’s GCDS winning title was Class Act by Jerry Craft, and this year’s winner was Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca. The students are proud to see their sticker, a tiger’s paw, on the books they chose. For some students, these books may be mirrors and, for others, windows. Students consider this as part of the criteria of what makes a book distinguished.

It is very satisfying to see the overlap in the awards and to know that GCDS students recognize and affirm the value of diverse titles. As Jacqueline Woodson, winner of multiple Newbery Honor awards, said in 2014, “I would like for us one day not to have this conversation. I’d love for the word ‘diverse’ to one day be cliché, redundant almost. . . . ‘We Need Diverse Books!’ Well, no. We need books, and those books are the books that represent all of us.” )

>> This article is a summary of a Jan. 24 presentation to parents by Chrissy Colón Bradt, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Palmer Sloan, Lower School Librarian; Ellen Gittes, Upper Elementary Librarian; Susan Polos, Middle School Librarian; Emily Auerswald, Upper School Librarian; and Andrew Ledee, Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

GCDS Celebrates Black History Month

This February, GCDS celebrated Black History Month across the divisions. As part of their changemakers unit, Grade 2 students researched a broad range of people who envisioned a new reality and then took steps to help bring that reality to life, including prominent Black Americans, such as Jackie Robinson, Mae Jemison, Wilma Rudolph, and Ruby Bridges. Their work was exhibited in the Cos Cob Library throughout the month of February. In Upper Elementary school, students heard from community members who have a connection to the civil rights movement. Middle School students discussed the significance of the month at their Assembly. In Upper School, students learned about the rich history of roller skating in the Black community during the 1950s and the civil rights movement.

SOUPER BOWL Tigers vote for their favorite team

The Center for Public Good sponsored its annual “GCDS Souper Bowl” in February. Tigers in all divisions brought one can of soup into school the week leading up to the Super Bowl and voted either for the Bengals or the Rams. The Rams may have won the actual game, but here at GCDS, the Bengals dominated in each division. The final score was 462-266—for a total of 728 cans donated to a local food bank—our most successful Souper Bowl yet!

It’s the Year of the Tiger!

In celebration of the Lunar New Year, our Lower Elementary School students wore red, listened to a read-aloud by visiting parents, and created Chinese lanterns. The Year of the Tiger is commonly associated with bravery and strength, two traits we often see in our own GCDS Tigers.

National Geographic Kids’ Author

LAURA MARSH Shares Writing Tips with Second Graders

Second-grade students enjoyed an engaging and informative presentation on Dec. 13 by beloved nonfiction author Laura Marsh. Author of 31 books by National Geographic Kids, Ms. Marsh took the children through the process of publishing one of her most popular books, “Ugly Animals.” After studying her books as mentor texts in reading and writing, the students were thrilled to hear more about how she selects her topics and puts a book together. Her message about the importance of revising was especially relevant as the children were getting their own nonfiction books ready for publication in class.