Diversity in Context: Stretching the Idea of Building Diverse Collections

Presented by Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair, New Canaan High School, CT; Robert Hillhouse, Secondary Multilingual Programs Teacher on Special Assignment; and Kerrin Moeller, Elementary Multilingual Programs Teacher on Special Assignment

Sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources

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Our inquiry series continues as we take a deep dive into building a diverse collection and nurturing a community of curious readers. As reader advisors, we know that young readers often relate to characters who share some of their own characteristics. The popularity of the realism genre encourages the publishing industry to pair representative characters with stories that feature headline-worthy drama. How can we build collections that celebrate not only diverse characters but also a diverse range of experiences for those characters to inhabit? And, how can we encourage readers to empathize with characters who may seem unfamiliar? In this edWebinar, watch Michelle Luhtala, Robert Hillhouse, and Kerrin Moeller in a lively discussion in honor of Teen Read Week 2019.

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to K-12 librarians, teachers, and administrators.

This is part 2 of the 3-part series: Lenses for Inquiry: Social and Emotional Learning, Representative Collections, and Digital Collections

Part 1: Integrating Social-Emotional Learning into Your Instructional Programs
Part 3: Rethinking the Cost of Digital Collection Building: It May Not Be as Expensive as You Think!

About the Presenters

Michelle Luhtala is the Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut and was one of five school librarians named as a “Mover and Shaker” by Library Journal in 2015. She is the winner of the 2011 “I Love My Librarian” Award and the Library Association’s 2010 Outstanding Librarian Award. The New Canaan High School Library won AASL’s National School Library Program of the year in 2010. Follow her on Twitter @mluhtala.

Rob Hillhouse currently serves as the secondary multilingual programs teacher on special assignment for Beaverton School District in Oregon. Born in Scotland, he has 16 years of experience in education in the Czech Republic, Texas, and Oregon, and has taught students acquiring English at the middle school, high school, and college level. He is a National Board Certified Teacher.

Kerrin Moeller currently serves as the elementary multilingual programs teacher on special assignment for Beaverton School District in Oregon. She has taught students acquiring English at the elementary school and middle school levels in Texas and Oregon. In 2018-19, she led the English language development curriculum adoption for Beaverton School District.

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 Mackin is one of the top providers of library and classroom materials for grades PK-12. Working with over 18,000 publishers and a database of nearly 3 million printed titles, and more than 1.9 million digital titles, Mackin supplies print books, eBooks, online educational databases, audiobooks and video resources to schools around the globe.