The Numbers Are In

Every year around this time for the past 30 years, the CCBC has published the number of books by and about people of color. We started doing this in 1985 when our Director, Ginny Moore Kruse, was on the Coretta Scott King Award Committee and knew that there were only 18 books eligible for the award that year. We were so shocked at that number that we decided to document it in our annual publication, CCBC Choices.

That number got around. Most people knew there weren't many books being published by Black authors and illustrators; they just didn't know the number was that small.

The next year it was the same -- 18 again. After that, it almost doubled, and started going up a bit each year until it peaked in 1992. Since then it has plateaued.

Before too long we were being asked for the number of books by and about American Indians, Asians/Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos, and we started keeping track of those numbers, too. CCBC librarian made a graph that shows the progress (or lack thereof) since 2002.

 Looking at this graph you can see what I mean when I say the numbers have plateaued. Some years the numbers go up, only to go down again the next year.

This year we saw an increase in the number of books about Africans and African Americans, Asians/Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos. the number of books by and about American Indians increased by two. It'll be interesting to see if next year the lines on our graph continue rising upward.

In the meantime, you can look at the statistics on more detail on our website: Children's Book by and about People of Color Published in the United States.  This year for the first time, we've decided to post our list of the authors, illustrators, and titles we've documented. Just click on 2014 to find the link to the lists for African American and American Indian (The list of Asian and Latino books are coming soon.)

Over the next several weeks we'll be blogging about these statistics, discussing some of the questions and observations that have come up, and talking about how we collect our data. Please post any questions you have here.

Farewell to CCBC-Net

When CCBC-Net began in April, 1995, we wanted to offer an exciting new way to engage in discussion of books for children and teens. Our first topical discussion was held in July of that year. We’ve been exploring individual books, topics and issues in the world of literature for children and teens on a monthly basis ever since.

The original welcome message on CCBC-Net included 8 pages of directions

Across CCBC-Net's twenty year history, there have been thousands of posts as members of the CCBC-Net community have shared their insights, observations, perspectives, experiences, and enthusiasm around books for youth.  At the time we launched CCBC-Net, listservs were on the cutting edge, and ours allowed for a vibrant, lively discussion of subjects near and dear to our hearts and our professions. We have had over 2,000 subscribers from all over the world and from many walks of life, and the listserv has seen some great discussions.

Today, while listservs still have a place, they have been joined by blogs, Facebook, Twitter feeds, Pinterest posts, and other forms of social media that offer different ways to connect and engage.  Listservs are no longer the go-to form of social media for discussion and, as a result, we have observed a sharp decline in activity on CCBC-Net over the past few years.  Our attempt to revitalize CCBC-Net in 2014 with changes that included book discussions and Q&A with authors and illustrators – while illuminating -- did little to increase participation.

For this reason, after much consideration and discussion, we have decided to bring the CCBC-Net listserv to a close at the end of 2014.  

We’ll still be talking about books for children and teens, publishing trends, and essential issues in the world of children's and young adult literature, in person as always at the CCBC, as well as here on this blog. Look for more author and illustrator interviews, too, like this one with Eric Gansworth from earlier this year. That’s one thing we look forward to carrying forward in this new forum.  And as with CCBC-Net, we welcome your suggestions of topics for discussion.

Onward!

From the CCBC Archives: The First Librarian

Meet Bonnie Stecher. She was the Cooperative Children's Book Center's first official librarian, and she worked at the Center from June 1964 until June 1965.  Mrs. Stecher, as she was always called back then, accomplished a lot in her one-year tenure at the CCBC. She made numerous contacts with children's book publishers to assure that the CCBC would receive review copies (there were 88 publishers included on her 1964-65 checklist). She responded to correspondence related to donations for the CCBC's Historical Collection. And she started compiling the bibliographies of recommended books that the CCBC is still known for today.

But perhaps her most lasting accomplishment was her compilation of Newbery and Caldecott winners and honor books. In the age of easy access to this sort of information via the internet, it's hard to imagine a time that there was no comprehensive list of Newbery and Caldecott Award winners. But even ALA didn't have such a list. In fact, in the CCBC files is a copy of a letter from Mildred Batchelder herself (the Executive Secretary of ALA's Children's Services Division), thanking Mrs. Stecher for sending her the list of award winners and runners-up. In her letter, Miss Batchelder brainstorms some possible ways for ALA to disseminate the list -- pending Mrs. Stecher's permission, of course.

Her list eventually saw publication as part of Lee Kingman's Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books, 1956-1965 published by the Horn Book, where it was credited to Bonita E. Stecher. Over the years, as the list has been updated, the credit was dropped, and few people know or even think about where it came from.  But here at the CCBC, we haven't forgotten what Mrs. Stecher accomplished. In fact, those of us who started out here as student reference assistants in the 1970s-1980s will remember updating the original list each year after the ALA awards were announced, and sending out copies whenever anyone requested one (and provided us with a self-addressed stamped envelope).

I'll leave you with this last photo of Bonnie Stecher, working with the CCBC collection back when the library was located in the dome of the State Capitol Building. She looks so deep in thought that perhaps she is trying to track down those missing honor books from the first few years of the Newbery Medal's existence.  The CCBC librarians no longer wear pearls and heels to work but we are no less dedicated providing information about children's and young adult literature to those who request it.

We still have those wooden benches -- and that book truck!