This month, we are exploring commitment, and what that means for each of us as we move through the world from each of our unique vantage points.
For us, we are a library rooted in equity, justice and compassion, empowering young people to celebrate diversity and use their voices for social change. We provide books, and programming featuring books, written by or about people, identities and communities that are under published and under represented in literature. Our commitments include commitments to curiosity, change, conscience, and compassion.
Curiosity includes having an open mind, asking questions, and valuing other perspectives. As a library, we value learning and growing. As a diversity library, we are committed to providing books that offer windows to perspectives that may differ from your own. This cultivates compassion.
Learning and growing means changing, whether that's self growth or changing the world. We’re committed to continually reflecting on our own practices including the language we use, the ways we organize our collection, and the resources we provide. We're also committed to providing books that showcase growth and the work of justice; change that’s needed in the world, change we can see in the world, change we can be in the world, change we can make in the world.
Our commitment to justice requires a commitment to conscience, to listening for an inner voice of what is right, speaking up and working to make what is right accessible and available to everyone.
These are some of our commitments, and our book list this month is built around them. We invite you to explore these four types of commitment through the examples and stories in this reading list.
What does it mean to be committed to . . .
. . . being curious, open minded and asking questions?
. . . changing yourself and the world?
. . . using your conscience?
. . . compassion?
The books in the curated list below, all written by or about people, identities and communities that are under published and under represented in literature, each demonstrate commitment to curiosity, change, conscience and compassion. These books, and hundreds more, are all available for loan to our library patrons as well as TVUUC members and families. Click “Borrow A Book” to learn how to bring these and other books home. If you’re not able to check books out, please refer to these suggestions when looking for books exploring Beloved Community. And if you want to support our efforts, visit https://cdjlibrary.org/support to learn how you can do that.
We invite you to think about your own commitments. What are you committed to? How do your commitments align with your values?
*Monthly themes adapted from the work of Soul Matters Sharing Circle https://www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com
Commitment to curiosity (open minds, learning and growing, valuing other perspectives).
board books
Let’s Go the Library, Scholastic Inc.
Picture Books
Ezra’s Big Shabbat Question, Aviva L. Brown and Anastasia Kanavaliuk
Is Nothing Something:: Kid’s Questions and Zen Answers About Life, Death, Family, Friendship, and Everything in Between, Thich Nhat Hanh and Jessica McClure
Who is Ben?, Charlotte Zolotow and Kathryn Jacobs
Why are they kneeling?, Lauren J Coleman
Ada Twist, Scientist, Andrea Beaty
Middle Grades
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Calpurnia Tate, 1), Jacqueline Kelly
The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate (Calpurnia Tate 2), Jacqueline Kelly
Teen
Finding Miracles, Julia Alvarez
Lies My Teacher Told Me (Young Readers Edition) - Everything American History Textbooks Get Wrong, James W. Lowen, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff
Adult
Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?: And other conversations about race, Beverly Daniel Tatum
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James W. Lowen
Commitment to Change (growth of self, change the world, justice)
Picture Books
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, Rita Lorraine Hubbard, Oge Mora
Drum Dream Girl, Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, Duncan Tonatiuh
Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood, Tony Hillery and Jessie Hartland
Grace for President, Kelly DiPucchio
Juvenile
I can make a difference: a treasury to inspire our children, Marian Wright Edelman
Start Now!: You Can Make A Difference, Chelsea Clinton
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down, Andrea Davis Pinkney
Rad American Women A - Z: Rebels, Trailblazers and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future, Kate Schatz
We are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders, Harry Belafonte (introduction), produced by the American Civil Liberties Union
Middle Grades
The Misfits, James Howe (Vol. 1 in The Misfits series)
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights of Movement, Carole Boston Weatherford
Teen
No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, Greta Thunberg
Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History, Kate Schatz
Adult
Road Map for Revolutionaries: Resistance, Activism, and Advocacy for All, Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, Jamia Wilson
Commitment to Conscience (listening to our inner voice, speaking up for what is right)
Picture Books
Say Something, Peter Reynolds
Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights, Rob Sanders
The Whispering Town, Jennifer Elvgren, Fabio Santomauro
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins, Carole Boston Weatherford
Juvenile
Cinderella Liberator, Rebecca Solnit and Arthur Rackham
The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews Suring the Holocaust, Karen Gray Ruelle
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down, Andrea Davis Pinkney
Gloria Takes a Stand, Jess Rinker and Daria Peoples-Riley
Middle Grades
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, Pablo Cartaya
Nelson Mandela South African Revolutionary, Beatrice Gormley
Teen
When They Call You a Terrorist (Young Adult Edition): A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World, Benee Knauer (adapter), asha bandele (author), Patrisse Khan-Cullors (author)
Coming Out to Play, Robbie Rogers
Adult
The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Commitment to Compassion (love for others, self-compassion, value of community)
Board Book
We Sang You Home, Richard Van Camp, Julie Flett
Picture Books
Listening with my Heart: A story of kindness and self compassion, Gabi Garcia
The Journey, Francesca Sanna
Birdsong, Julie Flett
Juvenile
My Beautiful Birds, Suzanne Del Rizzo
Front Desk, Kelly Yang
Middle Grades
Kira-Kira, Cynthia Kadohata
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, Wade Hudson (Editor)
Teen
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, Naoki Higashida, David Mitchell and KA Yoshida
Darius The Great is Not Okay (Vol 1 Darius The Great Series), Adib Khorram
Adults
A Clown in Cobwebs, Walt Nelson
