The following article was submitted by Lisa Pike, a Librarian at the Manitowoc Public Library.
The core principles of Manitowoc Public Library’s mission statement are to fulfill the educational, recreational, and cultural needs of the community. Collection development of materials for all ages is a large part of accomplishing this mission. While working towards mission fulfillment, we often find service gaps that need improvement. One such gap that we have been focusing on is the diversification of our collections so that everyone in our community can see themselves reflected in our circulating materials.
This past April, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s African Studies Program offered a new grant opportunity called the Read Africa Grant Program as part of their mission to promote better understanding of African cultures. The grant provides the opportunity for libraries to secure funding to enrich their collections with titles that will enable deeper understanding of Africa and its many cultures.
Within Manitowoc County, the fourth largest population demographic is Africans/African Americans. Per 2019 US Census estimations, Manitowoc County is home to approximately 1,000 African/African American citizens. A main part of our mission is to have representation of all citizens in our collections. With this in mind, we decided to submit a grant application to help grow our collection holdings in African culture.
One of our ongoing efforts in re-balancing our collections—even before receiving the grant—is the refining of collection processes to include selection of more titles with African/African American main characters and culture, and titles written by authors of African/African American heritage. We are conducting these efforts with the goal of having a greater percentage of titles in our adult, teen, and youth collections showcasing all walks of life within our county. This effort applies to all other cultures and ethnic groups in our community, as well.
At the end of May, we received the good news that the UW-Madison African Studies Program awarded us one of thirty-four grants given to libraries throughout Wisconsin in the amount of $725. The award of the Read Africa Grant will help us expand our collections to include more titles encompassing African culture on our adult, teen, and youth shelves.
Here are some of the titles that we will be adding to the library shelves starting this month. Be on the lookout for the special Read Africa Grant logo sticker on their front covers.
Adult Fiction:
The Emma Djan Investigation Mystery Series:
Book 1: The Missing American, by Kwai Quartey
Accra private investigator Emma Djan’s first missing persons case will lead her to the darkest depths of email scams and their con men in Ghana, the world’s Internet capital. A 2021 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Novel.
Book 2: Sleep Well, My Lady, by Kwai Quartey
In the follow-up to The Missing American, PI Emma Djan investigates the death of a Ghanaian fashion icon and social media celebrity, Lady Araba.
Teen Fiction:
The Deep Blue Between, by Ayesha Harruna Attah
Twin sisters Hassana and Husseina’s home is in ruins after a brutal war raid. But, this is not the end but the beginning of their story, one that will take them to unfamiliar cities and cultures, where they will forge new families, ward off dangers, and begin to know themselves. As the twins pursue separate paths in Brazil and the Gold Coast of West Africa, they remain connected through shared dreams of water. But, will their fates ever draw them back together?
Youth Middle Grade Fiction:
Last Gate of the Emperor, by Kwame Mbalia
Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime—a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. Yared is a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk. But when the game prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. Suddenly, all the stories Yared’s uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life and somehow Yared must search for answers to his place in a forgotten, galactic war.
Youth Picture Book/CD Kit:
Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Trees, by Nathalie Soussana
This musical picture book shares a wide array of musical styles—nursery rhymes from Gabon, lullabies from Cape Verde, and rumbas from the Cong—that are all performed by men, women, and children in more than a dozen languages. Illustrations that encompass African artwork and showcase homegrown instruments—such as the djembe, the cavaquinho and the Fula flute—round off this wonderful celebration of history, language, and culture. Winner of the 2020 Children’s Africana Book Awards.
We are very excited to start the process of adding these new titles to our shelves. This is one of many steps in the continuation of assessing our collection practices for diversity and inclusion and applies to all our collections. The ultimate goal for our library’s collections is representation of all community members, across all ages, so anyone can pick up a book and see themselves in its pages. The addition of these great cultural titles also offers a great opportunity to provide a window for others outside the culture to learn about their neighbors.
