Little Free Library fights racism by diversifying its book-sharing boxes: 'Everyone should see themselves'

Do you have a little free library – a box filled with free books that neighbors can donate to or take from – in your town? If you do, the next time you go, consider the makeup of the authors and stories that fill the box.

Are the authors Black or Latino? Are characters gay or gender nonconforming? 

The U.S. racial reckoning this past summer – spurred by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake, all Black people either killed or injured at the hands of police – has prompted many industries, including the literary community, to consider if they're doing enough to be anti-racist.

Liiterary trailblazers Sarah Kamya and Onikah Asamoa-Caesar previously started diversity initiatives around the country to better educate Americans through reading. Kamya started placing books about Black history, Black culture and ones that celebrate African American children or those with diverse backgrounds into these little libraries. Asamoa-Caesar, the owner of Fulton Street Books & Coffee in Tulsa, Oklahoma, started subscription box services to boost diverse voices.

Now, nonprofits including book-sharing service Little Free Library and Chicago literacy program incubator Open Books are also working to put diversity front and center for readers.

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Little Free Library exec: 'Books can provide a window'

Little Free Library, which has more than 100,000 book-sharing boxes in the U.S. and around the world, debuted a "Read In Color" initiative on Wednesday, which aims to bring books by and featuring people of color and other marginalized communities to its book-sharing boxes all over the world.

The program came about after Floyd's death, in an effort to improve awareness, empathy and understanding of diverse communities, executive director, Greig Metzger tells USA TODAY. 

"We believe that everyone should see themselves in a book that they're reading," Metzger says. "And we also believe that books can provide a window to life experiences that may be different than ourselves."

"Our priority is not just placing the diverse books into these book-sharing boxes but sharing them and then amplifying voices and stories that aren't always heard and centered," Anita Merina, national board chair of Little Free Library, tells USA TODAY.

Metzger commended the efforts of Kamya and other Little Free Library stewards who have taken it upon themselves to start making these libraries more diverse on their own. Kamya is part of the organization's advisory committee to help select books it recommends reading.

The Read In Color initiative has four parts:

Read in Color pledge. Little Free Library stewards and patrons that sign a pledge can access resources like bookmarks and a Read in Color sign for their respective library.

Free diverse books. Stewards, in the Twin Cities, Minnesota-area for now, can ask the organization for free diverse books, and Little Free Library will buy books from independent, minority-owned bookstores when possible or purchase from the publishers themselves.

Little Free Library installations. The organization will provide new little libraries (with culturally relevant books) to communities in need. This will start in the Twin Cities and expand across the country.

"We will work with the communities for them to decide and figure out what might be the right appropriate mix (of books) that reflects those community needs," Metzger says.

Recommended reading lists. Little Free Library invited an advisory committee to curate diverse lists representing many different communities: Black, Indigenous, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Muslim and LGBTQ. The advisers included indigenous scholar Debbie Reese and author and steward Roxane Gay, among others.

The organization expects to distribute 5,000 books in the Twin Cities, like "The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander, "Clap When You Land" by Elizabeth Acevedo and "So You Want to Talk about Race" by Ijeoma Oluo.

Metzger and his team envision these recommendations will also help build organic diverse books shuffling through the libraries. And even if the book-sharing goes directly from person to person, rather than the book-sharing boxes, Metzger would still be thrilled.

"That would be, in my mind, a significant win," he says.

Merina, who is Filipino, has found plenty of books by non-white authors at little free libraries in Washington, D.C., where she lives. These include "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," by Ocean Vuong; "Harbor Me," by Jacqueline Woodson; and "I was Their American Dream" by Malaka Gharib. She even put Gharib's book in one of the libraries herself.

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Open Books, Open Minds project highlights diversity

Little Free Library isn't alone in its efforts to combat racism through reading. 

Open Books, a Chicago nonprofit, recently announced its new Open Books, Open Minds program.

Crack open a children's book. More than 77% of the time, you'll find white characters or animals, according to recent statistics from The Cooperative Children's Book Center. That means that less than one-quarter of books feature Black, Asian Pacific Islander/Asian Pacific American, Latino and American Indians/First Nations characters combined.

The Open Books project aims to promote these lesser-heard voices. Parents can buy a set of three ($60) or five ($95) books for their children, which feature diverse characters and cultures, and for each purchase, Open Books will send those same books to under-resourced children in Chicago communities.

"(Parents are) making a philanthropic play to get more characters of color, and experiences of color, in front of children that lack books," Eric Johnson, Executive Director of Open Books, tells USA TODAY. "And in the case of their own family members or friends, and so on they stock their own home libraries with more diverse titles."

Open Books owns two bookstores in Chicago, with proceeds supporting its literacy initiatives. Like other organizations, Floyd's death led to discussions about how the organization could work toward more racial equity and anti-racism, both internally and externally. This project came out of that.

"The more that we can put books featuring characters of color into the world, the more that I think people will demand more of those things," Johnson says. "And we're certainly supporting those authors that are helping to make that happen."

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