[Libs-Or] OLA Quarterly Author Showcase | Andee Zomerman | Exploring Multiple Identities in Children’s Literature With Project LIT

[OLA Communications Committee]

Andee Zomerman is a newly endorsed Certified Librarian working at Five Oaks
Middle School in Beaverton as a Library Media Assistant. Please download
and read her latest article, "Exploring Multiple Identities in Children’s
Literature With Project LIT," here:
https://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq/vol25/iss2/9/

>From Andee's article, "As a librarian, it is imperative for me to display
books in which every student at our middle school can see their
reflections. In those same reads, different students will gain empathy for
others. Which book will impact which student may not be easy to predict.
Ensuring the library is stocked with encouraging stories emphasizing
diversity, equity, and inclusion is under my control. How else can I
provide mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors to our learning
community? I found a way using the Project LIT model.

Started in 2016 by Nashville high school teacher Jarred Amato, Project LIT
began as a plan to bring culturally relevant books to the classroom and the
community. Project LIT groups vary in size and how often they meet. The
main rule is to focus on a given list of books highlighting diversity,
equity, and inclusion.... As of this writing, the community registered to
participate in the next school year has grown to over 1,000 schools in all
50 states, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy."

Please read on to learn how Andee and her teacher partners implemented this
program at their school, and the results they and their students were able
to achieve. What could be a better place and method to explore different
identities than book groups for students in school, guided by adults with
education and experience? This is an important program to balance out the
ideas about identity that young people may encounter in the media and on
the streets, so students can gain self confidence and better understand how
to live and work among their neighbors in the future. Please help create
civil society in Oregon and beyond by reading, liking, and sharing this
wonderful new article by Andee Zomerman, Oregon Librarian.

Charles Wood
OLA Communications
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