Why Diversity in Books is Important

Diverse representation in books allows for members of minority groups–especially kids–to see themselves represented authentically, with written characters and interactions that reflect their own. It also lets people whose identities lie outside of those groups to connect with, empathize, and educate themselves about people different from themselves. Diverse media in general, but especially diverse literature helps provide, as the National Education Association put it, windows or mirrors. Mirrors are there for people to see in others the identity and lifestyle they see in themselves and the people around them. Windows are there for outsiders to see in others what they don’t see in themselves. These two practices help build empathy, understanding, and awareness for people who don’t share your race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, or socio-economic status.

Our Mission

Our goal with this project is to curate a collection of books that celebrates diversity in people, but also in content. We’re confident that you can find a book you love, whether you refine by genre or by representation. Happy reading!



About Us

Our names are Rayne and Emery. We’re both eighth graders from Salt Lake City, Utah. We started working on this project in the summer of 2022 though the Teen Squad volunteer program at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Books, especially diverse books, have always been an interest of ours, along with writing, coding, research, and graphic design. All of those interests were able to be combined to create this site.

Emery was responsible for finding, tagging, and cataloging all of the many books on our website. She is also responsible for all of the written information on our website. Rayne is responsible for the designing, coding, and execution of the website.

We would also like to thank Claire Doctorman, the teen librarian at the Foothill Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library, who helped us get this all started and supported us along our journey, the numerous Teen Squad volenteers who assisted in finding summaries and bibnumbers for many of our books, and all of the other people that helped us get to where we are today.


Teen Squad

This project started out as a part of the City Library's summer volunteer program called Teen Squad. It was a personal project choice that spoke to our values and interests. We spent a lot of our summer, outside the in-person volunteer hours, working on this project. Through this, we have been able to attend the Utah Library Association annual conference and get access to so many amazing opportunities through the library.


Contact Us

You can reach us at the following email adress:

diversifyingreadingslcpl@gmail.com

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