At the beginning of the school year, I decided to embark on a journey into the school library collection. I was going to do an diversity audit. I have wanted to do a diversity audit for the last few years, but wasn't able to start until this year. To get ready for the audit, I read articles, attended conference sessions, and looked at statistics. Our school library is only four years old, with an average book age of 2014, so I am hoping that the collection will be more diverse overall than the publishing average. 

First step, decide which categories I would be specifically looking for and create a spreadsheet. I decided that I was going to take an in depth look at the collection, that will most likely take two years to complete. I wanted to be able to use the audit to diversify the collection, but also to create Reader's Advisory lists. So my spreadsheet has a lot of categories, but I am planning to tackle the library one genre at a time. 

I decided to start with Action & Adventure. Going in I knew this genre was going to skew white and male. Sure enough after about 100 books that is exactly what was happening. However, I also realized how long each book was taking to review. I wanted results a little quicker. So I switched gears. I decided to audit the authors first. Since many authors have books in multiple genres, this would make sense for me to be able to save time in the long run. After I complete the author audit, I can shift back to the genres. This will also help me make weeding decisions as I go through each section (I know the library is only four years old, but shelf space is tight). To help with the author audit, I am using author webpages, CCBC, Teachingbooks.net, Goodreads and articles to help me determine the information. Before I began I knew I would have to make some presumptions about some authors. I made the decision to presume white, where otherwise information is not available. This may end up making my overall number skew more white than it should, but I have found that most white authors don't declare their racial background, whereas many authors of color do. Any mistakes made on this will be purely mine. 

Currently I am a little more than a third of the way through the author audit and what I have seen is surprising. So far the collection is skewing very white and female. I have a little over 7500 fiction titles that I am looking at for this audit. I will add another update soon to let you know how it progresses. 

If you haven't been keeping up on the challenges and activities that National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds has had going on, you are really missing out. From creating your own award, to taking imaginary road trips and creating Tik Tok dances, Reynolds has a number of fun activities that get you thinking and writing about your "authentic" experience. 

Here is the video explaining the Tik Tok dance activity

Here is the website with all of the activities:
https://guides.loc.gov/jason-reynolds/grab-the-mic/wrr

​Create a TikTok Dance. 2020. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9309/>

It's a library checkout pickup week. Make sure to get all book requests in before Monday at 12 noon. The don't forget to pick them up during Material Distribution time on Wed or Thurs

From our school nurse Ms. Smith:

​The Flu vaccine is HIGHLY recommended for everyone this year.

Renton is hosting Drive-thru Flu Clinics for EVERYONE ages 4 years and older October 13- 16.  Students, families, neighbors, everyone are encouraged to come.

There is no cost to anyone. 

Tuesday, October 13, 2020, 9:30 – 5:30 – Dimmitt Middle School
Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 9:30 – 5:30 – Lindbergh High School
Thursday, October 15, 2020, 9:30 – 5:30 – Renton High School
Friday, October 16, 2020, 8:30 – 4:30 – McKnight Middle School

You do need to sign up.

Register for your family’s time slot now for the best availability.  More slots may be offered if demand is high.

See the fliers in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese on the Renton School District website. 

Library checkout is here. Follow these simple steps to get your library books!
1. Place a hold on a book in the library catalog or fill out the Book Request Form (check the library canvas class for the link)
2. Library staff will check the books out to you - you can have up to 5 out at a time
3. You will receive an email with the pickup dates and times
4. Come get your books

It's that simple. You can return your book Mon-Fri from 9-3 in the Risdon Main Office

Jason Reynolds wrote For Everyone before he wrote Ghost, before he wrote Long Way Down, before he wrote All American Boys, before he was a best selling writer and household name. Reynolds had a dream to be a writer, but hadn't yet made it. For Everyone is direct to the point and inspirational for everyone going after their dream. Turned into a video by 826 Digital, an organization devoted to inspiring teens to write,  I share it with you now to inspire you at the start of this uncertain school year. We may not be able to be together right now, and we may not know when we may be together again, but we can all be inspired to dream.

Sync is offering their free summer audiobook program a little early this year.

What is it? Sync is a free summer program that pairs two audiobooks a week that you can download free(for keeps) using Sora(which you can access through Clever). You have to be at least 13 to sign up for the program. New pairs are published on Wednesdays. This week's pair is Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin and In Search of Us by Ava Dellaira. 

The Everywhere Book Fest starts tomorrow, Friday May 1st. https://everywherebookfest.com/  and runs through Sat.

There are some really fantastic panels like
Dinosaurs, Ghosts and Gods Oh My!
Write #HerStory
I am My Own Hero
Illustration Fight to the Death
and more

and some great authors:
Jason Reynolds
Gene Luen Yang
Meg Medina
Marie Lu and more

I know I will be there - will I see you?