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The Case for Including Diverse Authors and Books in Classrooms
The year is 2024, and the United States stands at a crossroads. Down one path lays a future of mutual understanding and respect; a place where people of diverse backgrounds come together in common purpose, to learn, to work, and to thrive. Down the other lays a long road filled with feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and ultimately, an unwillingness to engage.
These are the very stark realities facing us as our education system teeters on the brink of a representational cliff. In March of this year, the American Library Association reported an alarming statistic: Book bans in the US surged 65% year-over-year from 2022 to 2023. The bulk of these book bans hit public schools, impacting 52 public school districts across 23 states. And the books most often targeted are the very books kids need to read. They record the harrowing journeys of people with diverse perspectives who faced great adversity, including people of color, people of different religious backgrounds, people of different gender identities, and people of different sexual orientations. Books like Julian Is A Mermaid, Sulwe, New Kid, and We March.
For students who are just starting to discover reading, a love for learning, and a desire to find out more about who they are, these tales are crucial. This is especially true for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC students who already have trouble finding stories with characters that look and act like they do. And just as these tales were becoming more commonplace to find in classroom settings, to have them suddenly ripped away is a cruelty all in its own.
But it’s not just students of minority groups that suffer when diverse voices are missing from their education. In today’s article, Booksource, America’s source for classroom books for students of all backgrounds and abilities, dives deep into the many reasons the availability of diverse books not only enhance educational objectives, but help students reach their full potential.
The Importance of Stories
The American Literary Theorist, Kenneth Burke, once wrote that our species should be referred to as homo narrans. That is, a group of story-telling, story-listening, and story-experiencing beings. Of all the creatures in the animal kingdom, he claimed that we alone communicated through the practice of sharing stories.
Throughout most of human history, stories were the main mode through which history and culture were transmitted. The Diné Bahaneʼ and the collective oral histories of the Navajo, the Poetic Eddas of Iceland, and the Mahabharata of the ancient Hindu people are all examples of stories designed to shape entire cultures that were passed down with each retelling to subsequent generations. Within each tale were lessons about a life well lived, bylaws that became important pillars for the formation of societies, and explanations that shaped the worldview of the people who heard them.
The stories that we tell, listen to, and discover are foundational to our development as a person. Especially during the crucial period of childhood when early access to reading materials creates a reinforced “positive upward spiral”. This phase is where reading generates more interest in reading, a greater yearning for better academic achievement, and more personal fulfillment later in life.
Quite simply, the books being removed from public schools across the country aren’t “just books” or “violent material” as proponents of the bans claim. Entire parts of our shared stories and identities are being excluded. This diminishes the chances of children encountering stories about people like them facing the challenges that they’ve faced.
The Benefits of Including Diverse Literature in Classroom Libraries
1. Diversity in Literature Promotes Self-Esteem 
As mentioned above, when children see books about themselves, where people just like them are the heroes escaping misfortune, beating the odds, executing cunning plans, or tackling familiar challenges head on, it leads to a more positive self-image. Students who are exposed to stories where someone like them overcomes adversity and meets their goals proves it can be done. Suddenly, their dreams seem more attainable, and expending the effort to chase aspirations seems worthwhile.
A child with a positive self-image is more likely to believe they can affect change, improve, and grow. In addition, diverse literature can help counteract the negative stereotypes prevalent in popular media that children will most certainly be exposed to at some point. They help to form an important archetype in a child’s mind of who their ideal self is. Numerous studies over the years have shown that the self-concept formed early in childhood has an important influence on academic motivation, which in turn can positively impact fulfillment later in life.
But what happens to a child who never finds a story where someone like them is the hero? What happens when instead a child sees a character that represents them always relegated to the role of a sidekick, the butt of jokes, or even the villain? If stories are how we shape our perception of ourselves and others, then stories about a world in which the struggles of minorities are trivialized or excluded can be devastating. In fact, it can irreparably harm self-esteem. Children may feel like they don’t fit in or belong, or like they can’t find a story that helps them better make sense of the events occurring in their life.
Unfortunately, for most non-white students, struggling to find stories they can see themselves in is almost guaranteed. According to a study by Sarah Park Dahlen, Ph.D., only 23% of all children’s literature as recently as 2018 featured a non-white, human protagonist. This means that more than three out of every four children’s books on shelves depict a story that children belonging to minority groups cannot resonate with. With increasing challenges in public school libraries sweeping across the nation, this number is likely to be far lower when further filtering these statistics by “likely availability in a school classroom or library.”
2. Diverse Stories Teach Empathy and Create Respect
Making books about diversity and new experiences available in classroom libraries doesn’t just help students from minority groups; It creates opportunities for everyone to learn. Exposing children to different cultures, beliefs, and ways of life allows them to better understand the myriad groups of people that call the world home. It may introduce perspectives they wouldn’t otherwise have, promoting a mutual respect and understanding for experiences outside of their own. This respect and understanding is the basis for fostering empathy.
The concept of helping to develop empathy and compassion in the classroom is not a new one. Social and emotional development has long been part of learning, from pre-school all the way through elementary school. Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs aim to help students develop a better understanding of themselves and others to promote better self-management and encourage sound, responsible choices. Studies have shown that SEL can improve academic performance by up to 11 percentage points, lead to greater academic attendance and more positive attitudes toward school, and generally reduce feelings of stress and depression. In addition, SEL programs have been linked to more positive long-term behaviors outside of school such as increased confidence, healthier and more fulfilling relationships with peers and adults, a reduce in risky or harmful behavior, and an increased fortitude and persistence when chasing goals born from innate beliefs of self-efficacy.
As a major catalyst for SEL, books from diverse authors covering diverse experiences have the power to promote these positive characteristics in children, leading to a healthier, more productive life.
3. School Might Be the Only Place Children Can Access Diverse Authors and Stories
A common refrain from those in favor of removing books on diverse topics from schools is that students shouldn’t be learning about these topics in school and can learn about the subject at home, if needed. But a Department of Education study concluded that 61% of low income families across the country don’t have books in the home for their children to read. Additionally, 45% of children live in what are called “Book Deserts,” or neighborhoods that have no public libraries, no bookshops, and where homes are very unlikely to have kids' books.
In many cases, the only place for children to meaningfully engage with literature is through school. So now the question becomes, if students aren’t allowed to engage with diverse books in the classroom, then where can they? If stories about their experiences and the common challenges they face can’t be taught during school hours, then when can they be?
If there are no other avenues except public school to experience books featuring diverse stories, then removing them from classrooms removes them entirely from a child’s life. The benefits realized from exposure to the content in these books at this crucial stage in a child’s development are forever lost. Finding and creating classroom libraries that include many perspectives and cultural backgrounds provides a welcome oasis of learning and opportunity for children living in the middle of a book desert.
Introduce Diverse Books Into Your Classroom with Booksource
Learning isn’t always supposed to be easy. The world and all of us living in it form a system of multi-layered complexities that can’t be fully understood at a glance. There are parts of our story, parts of our shared selves, that can be dark and challenging to confront. But that’s a tale as old as time. Through adversity, we learn about who we are, and by overcoming it, become the people we need to be for the journey ahead. Removing books from classrooms because they depict racism, antisemitism, or scenes of oppression does not spare our students the horrors of the monsters that lurk in the dark corners of this world. It only keeps them from discovering how they can be vanquished.
For children that are forced to confront this darkness every day, the story always remains unfinished. There’s no archetypal hero or well-worn folktale they can turn to for comfort, to remind them that they can win, that it won’t always be like this. Instead, they learn about stories they’ve had no hand in shaping, where their voice is conspicuously absent. Eventually, if the story is left unfinished for too long, it will be the only ending they remember.
As educators, we’ve been charged with a sacred duty to shape our future. Our goal has always been to do everything in our power to ensure our students are given the tools they need to succeed in life. This includes exposing them to stories they can relate to, as well as stories depicting cultures and beliefs they’re not familiar with. The data on this point is crystal clear: Access to diverse literature promotes better academic outcomes, leads to better self-confidence and feelings of self-efficacy, and helps create the emotional building blocks used to learn important self-disciplinary and motivational behaviors that lead to a more successful and fulfilling life.
At Booksource, we pride ourselves on helping educators just like you provide what your students need to succeed in life. Our Diversity & Inclusion collections contain books for all ages and reading levels that strive to inject multicultural experiences into the classroom. We also provide collections for Spanish and English Language Learners (ELL) designed to incorporate into your curriculum seamlessly.
Together, we can help our students realize a brighter future. For help designing a classroom library featuring diverse book selections, reach out to Booksource today!
