As part of its Children in Media series, National Public Radio used the expertise of the UW-Madison School of Education’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) to examine why — even as the face of the nation changes –- only a small fraction of children’s books have main characters that are Latino, Native American, black or Asian.
The NPR report is titled, “As Demographics Shift, Kids’ Books Stay Stubbornly White.”
NPR notes that figures compiled by CCBC indicate that even though a quarter of all public school children in the U.S. are Latino, only 3 percent of children’s books are by or about Latinos.
“Quite simply,” NPR reports, “when it comes to diversity children’s books are, well, failing.”
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, or CCBC, is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas and expertise in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is a noncirculating examination, study and research library for Wisconsin school and public librarians, teachers, early childhood care providers, university students and others interested in children’s and young adult literature.
In addition to being part of UW-Madison’s School of Education, CCBC also receives additional support from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.