Representation Matters in Classrooms and Libraries: Marley Dias and #1000BlackGirlBooks

As a young girl who loved the library, I always knew I could find books full of characters who looked and sounded like me. Librarians would simply direct me to the “Ramona” series or point to the “Chronicles of Narnia.”

1,000 Black Girl Books: 11-year-old founds a book drive for stories featuring black female protagonists

That was not the case for 11-year-old Marley Dias, who, as a young black girl, encountered a library full of tales about kids and families who didn’t look or sound like her and whose reading assignments were overwhelmingly “about white boys and their dogs.” Dissatisfied with the situation, Dias founded the 1,000 Black Girl Books drive to collect stories featuring black female protagonists. In classrooms and libraries as with anywhere else, representation matters.

Books about people of color make up less than eight percent of books from American publishers

That representation, though, isn’t exactly common. A recent report from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which collects books from large and small American publishers, shows that less than eight percent of the total volumes collected were about people of color. Even librarians who are focused on attempting to expand the diversity of their collections face difficulties in acquiring these books.

CBC explained that in 2012, they collected approximately 3600 books, of which only 119 contained significant “African or African-American content.” Even an attentive librarian attempting to acquire a diverse collection faces difficulties collecting unique titles representative of the experiences of the people that library serves. As such, Dias’s goal when she set it in November 2015 appeared to be difficult.

Social media responds to Marley Dias and #1000BlackGirlBooks

However, people all over the world connected with Dias’s project because they understood that appropriate representation is important for people of color. Discussions about how and where minorities are represented are happening all over our culture, from the Academy Awards and #Oscarssowhite to marketing, television and other cultural touchstones.

Representation in fiction and non-fiction is particularly important in classrooms and libraries where students are encouraged to explore people’s stories, but where they might be unable to find main characters that resemble themselves or non-white classmates. Dias’s project resonated because so many people understood what it means to seek relatable characters and plots in reading.  

Publishers, black authors, and Ellen DeGeneres get involved in Dias’s drive

Reading and writing are integral parts of Dias’s life, and #1000BlackGirlBooks allowed her to share her passions with others by ensuring that they are able to see themselves in books — as well as showing them a universe that includes black authors. Driven by social media hashtags and international press response, the #1000BlackGirlBooks project took off.

Black authors like Sharon Flake and Jacqueline Woodsen responded by providing their own books and social media attention. Pop culture icon Ellen DeGeneres contributed by interviewing Dias on her TV show and presenting the 6th-grader with a $10,000 check for books.

1,000 Black Girl Books met its goal in February 2016

Dias’s project has been a tremendous success. She met her goal of 1,000 books that featured black girls as the main characters in February 2016.  She plans to donate books to schools in Jamaica, her mother’s home country, as well as several elementary schools in Newark and West Orange. Dias and her mother also plan to use their collection, which includes over 200 unique titles, to develop a list of books so that other librarians and educators can use the resource to break out of the “white boys and their dogs” reading assignment limitations.

Faced with the frustration of not finding characters or authors that looked like them, many 11-year-olds might have given up and walked away, but Dias’s love for reading and writing combined with her hard work in the #1000BlackGirlBooks drive will now ensure that many young readers see themselves represented in their libraries.

Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition and creative writing.