Beth Lyons and Toni Duval look back at their journey together as teacher-librarians towards reading more diversely. They recount their time at the Ontario Library Super Conference, seeing Jael Richardson as a spotlight speaker and attending the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) as a means to live and read more diversely. Toni talks about her time as a FOLD volunteer and using the resources and learning offered by the FOLD as an inroads to bringing diverse literature into the classroom. The pair consider their learning in a professional development sense and the importance of bringing an awareness to who is presenting the sessions, the messages they are sharing and moving beyond your silo. Both Toni and Beth have started to engage in a diversity audit of the book collections in the school library and discuss the statistics and learning that have come from starting this work. Toni shares about how she connected with Rebeca Rubio and their upcoming session at OLA Super Conference 2021 looking at their diversity audits and the discussions that stem from the data and the work.

Mentioned in this episode:
OLA Super Conference- https://www.olasuperconference.ca/
Treasure Mountain Canada- https://tmc.canadianschoollibraries.ca/
Rebeca Rubio @rebecarubi0

Thanks to Jael Richardson and the FOLD for always pushing our learning.
@JaelRichardson
@TheFOLD_
https://thefoldcanada.org/

Books mentioned in this episode:
Black Water: Family, Legacy and Blood Memory by David A. Robertson
The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
This Book is AntiRacist by Tiffany Jewell
Trending: How and Why Stuff Gets Popular by Kira Vermond, illustrated Clayton Hanmer
The Jigsaw Puzzle King by Gina McMurchy-Barber