#1000blackgirlbooks

Marley Dias, a student in New Jersey was sick of being assigned to read books about white boys and their dogs. So she began a book drive to gain 1000 books about black girls. A campaign that began in November has now reached its goal.

Upon reaching 700 books Marley appeared on the Ellen Show where she received a monetary donation from Shutterfly. She also received donations from Barnes and Noble. She has donated the books she has received to her own school, and plans to donate to other schools in New Jersey as well as a parish in Jamaica where her mother is from, as more books come in.

Upon reaching her goal she appeared on Comedy Central's Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore to discuss the project and why she began in the first place.

It is great to see a child that goes out of her way to look for more diverse material to read and explore rather than simply read only what has been assigned. But to call upon a discussion in class last week, where were the librarians and/or teachers. Yes, Marley had the assistance of her mother who is a co-founder of a social action organization. But where were the other adults in the community, particularly the adults that should be promoting the materials that Marley sought in the first place? Libraries (both school and public) will never reach entire communities if they do not reach out to those who wish to be there. While Marley did an amazing job on her own, she states that there are tons of books for little kids because reading is pushed when you are young. However she seemed to be under the impression that there were very few types of books outside of what she was assigned to read once you outgrow picture books. Where was the librarian saying that there are so many more books to read and materials to explore? Or did they not come forward because they felt that their own collection was not diverse enough to step up? Whatever the reason, librarians and teachers need to be aware of the books in collections and begin to assign and recommend more diverse books.

Source: Girl's drive to find 1,000 'black girl books' hits target with outpouring of donations