BIPOC Book Drive Provides Diverse Mirrors for Students in School

When a joyful, Black second grader at Chatham Park elementary shared with his stepmom, Brittany Borden, how disappointed he was to not be able to find chapter books featuring characters of color, little did he know it would provide the needed spark for the first minority book drive for the Haverford School District.

Brittany, Latanya King, and Monet Reilly are the Chairs of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) Parents of Haverford Township, a group newly founded in October 2020 by Latanya King. The BIPOC groups’ mission is to connect parents that identify as a racial minority with the Haverford community to be able to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in their education system and surrounding neighborhood.

When deciding what impact their group wanted to have in their community for Black History Month, Brittany shared the experience her son had and from there, the minority book drive was developed.

The BIPOC group wanted to ensure their children, the BIPOC children of Haverford Township, would be able to see themselves mirrored in the curriculum, and their classmates and peers would be provided windows into cultures and backgrounds different from their own. This framing was initially coined by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita of Education, Ohio State University.

Dr. Sims Bishop, wrote “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part.”

The initial planning involved discussions in how the books would be used, and in what way they would have the greatest impact. With the help from the Principal of Chestnutwold Elementary, Dr. Joel DiBartolomeo, the School District not only agreed to take the donations but to put in the work to get the donations curriculum approved so they can be accessible to all children through the Districts library system.

Running the month of February, the BIPOC Parent group put out the call to the community to purchase new books featuring characters of color, or books written by authors of color. By the end of the first week, 280 books had been donated, and they had received an additional $360 in cash donations.

“We were amazed at the community support.” Reilly stated. “It really has been a collaborative effort, gaining the interest of students, neighbors, board members, organizations, and even our elected officials on a local and state level!” She continued “I know the District has made a conscious effort in recent years ensure a more culturally responsive and welcoming environment.”

The Haverford School District launched their BASIS, Belonging and Sociocultural Identities in Schools, initiative in 2018. The initiative aims to achieve and incorporate belonging in the school district for all members of the Haverford school community. Haverford continued to demonstrate their dedication to belonging and representation by committing to increase the diversity in their library, and thus increasing the mirrors their students of color will have access to.

Latanya King, Founder of the BIPOC group and current Haverford School Board candidate, explained why representation was important to her as a parent of a second-grade student at Chestnutwold Elementary, “Every child deserves to read a book, with a storyline that resembles their cultural background. Every child deserves to experience a sense of sociocultural belonging and acceptance in their classroom, and in their overall school experience. This book drive captures the importance of cultural representation in our school reading materials. We must always remember that representation matters.“

The BIPOC Parents of Haverford Township donated a total of 1,271 new books to the Haverford School District. This was made possible by a combination of individual book donations, $1800 in community cash donations, and a $1500 Grant they were awarded by the Haverford Education Foundation. All monies collected were used to purchase books from Black Owned bookstores.

Over the next week, the books will be sorted by Haverford’s Curriculum Director and various librarians who will designate which titles will be available in school libraries and which will go to teacher classrooms. Then they will be sorted by grade level and equally distributed throughout the District’s five elementary schools, the Haverford Middle school, and the Haverford High School.

“We are not sure what our next project will be, but we can promise it will be impactful” the chairs noted.

To keep updated on the group, follow them on Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/BIPOC...