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Please note: this is from Pat Wallace - DENWALL@aol.com - please address all responses to her or to LM_NET. ---from Pat Wallace:::>>>> Dear LM_NETTERS: I teach multi-age 1st-3rd in a public school Montessori Magnet in Dallas and I'm working on an MLS at Texas Woman's University. Dallas has a number of magnets established under a court order which mandates racial balance in every classroom. The district is also in the process of establishing many new elementary schools and libraries. I have been envisioning the task of putting together an excellent and highly diverse collection of children's books and would like to write my professional paper on this topic. I would like some input from all you experienced people on a couple of issues, and I would appreciate really honest responses: 1. Using jobbers: I am aware that the mainstream publishing industry has waxed and waned in its inclusion of books by authors of color and the degree of care exercised in ensuring availability of bias-free, culturally authentic children's literature. Small presses and alternative publishers have expended more consistent energy toward this end, but they often aren't represented on jobber's lists. Yet the trend toward ordering through jobbers and even via approval plans grows because of the convenience of pre- coding, cost and time savings. This concerns me. It seems to offer the potential for making it even more difficult to maintain ethnic diversity in the collection. Yet, when I attempt to discuss this in my graduate classes, most just roll their eyes, aghast at the thought of bypassing the convenience of using jobbers. What has your experience been in this regard? Do you believe this to be a problem? (I'm beginning to think this is an "Emperor's New Clothes" phenomenon!). 2. Exacerbating the problem is the dearth of reviews of multi- cultural literature by reviewers familiar with the culture of the ethnic group(s) depicted. Again, this applies especially to mainstream reviewing sources as opposed to small press journals. Probably you all know of some spec- tacular chasms between how books well received in major reviewing venues have been panned as racist by alternative reviewers. For example: "The Indian in the Cupboard", "The Five Chinese Brothers", "Little Black Sambo" etc. I don't know the exact statistics, but the vast majority of school librarians are white. What kind of support, if any, do you get from your District Media Office or similar source in accessing a variety of reviewing sources, actually handling advanced copies of new children's books, or circulating "in House" reviews? What kind of resources might be useful in this regard? I know these are big issues, but whatever personal insights you are willing to share, I would appreciate. You can post to the listserv or answer me at denwall@aol.com. Thank you, in advance. Pat Wallace Harry Stone Montessori Magnet Dallas, Texas