Resource Reminder: Diversify Your RA

I talk often here on the blog about the need to make sure your reading lists and displays are as diverse and inclusive as possible.

But just as often, I get emails from library workers that they cannot seem to find enough own voices authors in genre fiction. Or if they can find some, they don't have enough because once they promote the few they have, they get checked out, and then they are left with no options once again [or at least until they can order some more].

Enter my friends and MA librarians Anna and Alene whose presentation "Diversify Your RA" was first featured in Booklist this past fall. 

One of the best things that came out of their presentation was their creation of this working list of diverse authors, sorted by genres [even nonfiction!].

Although I talked about this new resource here on the blog previously, Anna recently reminded me that they are still regularly updating it. This resource did not stop for their presentation or even the Booklist feature. They are committed to keeping it going to help all of you have as few barriers as possible when ordering and suggesting titles by diverse authors.

The key to this list is its genre focus. If you want to put up, for example, a historical fiction display, a quick click here and a simple scroll down, and you have almost 2 dozen recent titles that fit the bill.

By no means do Anna and Alene claim that these lists are comprehensive; however, they are the perfect jumping off point to being more inclusive in your RA Service. And, if you click into the Booklist feature, you can also see links to the resources they used to make their list so that you can stay up to date for yourself.

The moral here is, there is no excuse to have all white, male displays anymore. There are plenty of excellent options that reflect the true diversity of our everyday world in every genre. It just might mean you have to use a resource to find them. But good news, you work at a library so you are used to using resources to find answers to questions. And even better news, your patrons are used to waiting while you look things up.

No more excuses aloud. It is time we all Diversify Our RA.

[Ed note: A special thanks to Anna and Alene for sharing their work so that they can help more of you, and [Anna] for reminding me that it is still being updated.]