Fall 2015 • Children and Libraries 7
M
any people seem to think that the discussion
of diversity started in 1964 with Nancy Larrick’s
seminal article, “The All-White World of Children’s
Books,” published in the Saturday Review on September 11,
1965. This time line shows, however, that a lot happened
prior to that. Influential library leaders such as Pura Belpré,
Charlemae Hill Rollins, Augusta Baker, and Clara Breed cham-
pioned diversity long before the 1960s.
In the children’s book world, awards matter a great deal. They
can reflect social mores and the critical mind-set of children’s
librarians, both historically and currently. And they have always
had a big impact on what gets published next. Success breeds
imitation, so when authors and illustrators of color win book
awards, particularly the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, it can
lead to greater diversity in literature overall. We saw this happen
in the mid-1970s with African American literature after big wins
by Virginia Hamilton, Leo and Diane Dillon, and Mildred D.
Taylor. We saw it again in the early 2000s with Newbery Medals
going to Linda Sue Park and Cynthia Kadohata, after which we
noted a marked increase in the number of novels being pub-
lished by Asian American authors.
Progress is often measured by firsts—the first Newbery Medal
given to an author of color, first African American president
of ALA’s Children’s Services Division (now the Association for
Library Service to Children/ALSC), and so forth. Each of these
firsts represents a breakdown of barriers.
Sometimes these barriers seem to have been broken easily; we
can’t know, for example, how much discussion there was back
in 1928 about awarding the Newbery to a book set in India
by an author of East Indian descent. Other times, they clearly
represent the work of tireless advocates. We can appreciate the
effort that must have gone into the launching of The Brownies’
Book in 1920 and the heartbreak that must have followed two
years later when they had to close the venture down.
Reading this time line, it should become clear that, as a group,
children’s librarians have been on the forefront for diversity
from the beginning, striving to serve all children. If anything,
our predecessors in the library field had a much better track
record for it than we ourselves have had over the last forty
years. Ultimately this time line shows that we still have a long
way to go.
1916—Children’s Book Week is established.
1919—Macmillan establishes the first department devoted
exclusively to children’s books and hires Louise Seaman (later
Bechtel) as the first children’s book editor.
Kathleen T. Horning is the Director of the
Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a
library of the School of Education at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Milestones for Diversity in Children’s
Literature and Library Services
KATHLEEN T. HORNING