There’s a noticeable lack of African-American literature in most libraries. When taking SLIS 718 my desire to achieve a goal of including more literature that reflected me and other people like me became more apparent and obtainable. This heavily influenced my goals and aspirations and what I felt would be the best method of running a library and making it as inclusive as possible. When discussing how I would run a library, I strongly believe that one of the best methods is by simply having the proper reading material. Working in a predominately black community and being exposed to black literature at a very young age, this is what I believe would make a more solid foundation and help young readers be more open to coming through the library doors and realizing there’s room for them here as well. Having more literature like this allows for the young readers to be able to reflect on it on a more personal level.

I believe it’s important for the students to read books that are written by people who not only look like them but who also have the same ethnic and cultural experiences as them as well or at least currently having. This was something I felt privileged to endure and as a youth I spent the majority of my childhood in the care of my grandparents who would often surround me with books centered on African-Americans. Also other prominent elders who taught me a world of knowledge and showed me that every book I’d be reading for the longest time wasn't excluded to a certain group of people. I’ve always believed that it's important for young readers to be able to read literature in which they are able to see themselves or be able to at least identify with the characters in the story for people outside of the black experience. Having more access to this type of literature is a great chance for them to read and study words of color and pictures that display a very rich history of creativity that they don't even know about in literature and in media in positive lights. Doing this allows for self-confidence to reach higher levels than it's ever seen as well as make them more comfortable in understanding and embracing themselves. Diverse representations are beneficial to all readers and having multicultural books available allows for children to relate to themselves and their heritage and their background more on a deeper level.

What my presentation does is offer several examples of literature that is aimed at young African-American readers who may face various encounters in their lives such as changing schools and having to make new friends that are of different races, religions, etc. I always believe that there’s culture in every race so this type of method when learning how to construct a library to your liking can work for any group. This is why diversity matters in a lot of aspects involving the library. I understand my own community and am able to effectively cater to their wants and needs, but it’s not just about who I know…it’s also about who else I can know and learn from as well.

SLIS 781 was centered on the history of children and young adult literature. It’s here that the importance of understanding the diversity of a community needs to be taken into consideration heavily when it comes to reading material that best reflects the community, especially young readers. It’s important to have a very suitable amount of literature that reflects whomever lives in that community regardless of race, gender, or sexuality. Now with what I’ve learned in this course I’m able to reach out to the community itself and better recognize the wants and needs they may need. An example would be the need for more black literature in the library as shown in my project video. I use black literature as an example not so much because of my own ethnicity, but because there is a need in most predominately black communities with libraries for more literature that relates to the people who live in it. It’s the most effective way to utilize an assortment of information services that meet the needs of the community and still recognizes/respects it’s diversity.