There are two new book displays in the Edith Hamilton Library curated by Eighth Graders, Aela M. and Laila R.. Both students completed the exhibits as part of their "Voices and Visions" seminar projects.
Aela's display, "Diversifying the Edith Hamilton Library'', highlights books by and about people of diverse backgrounds, including disability, African American, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous and more. In her proposal she said that "as an avid reader who is a person of color, I often don't see myself and other minority communities represented in books. I’m interested in finding a way to implement more diverse books in the school library."
Laila's display, "Eleven Positive/Powerful Black Books" focuses on books by and about African Americans. She said "I decided to create an exhibit displaying positive and powerful black books because I realized that the majority of the books about black people that we read in school involve some sort of trauma and pain. When I realized this, I wanted to do something where people would be introduced to a new positive view of black people in books where they were uplifted rather than being put down. With this display, I hope that people will be introduced to a new side of black people in literature and black students feel as though they have more representation of black characters that do not follow the repetitive narrative of pain.
Both students read book reviews, previewed books, and recommended new titles to be purchased for the library collection. In addition, they delved into Bryn Mawr's collection to identify books that we already owned that they wished to highlight. It is much more challenging to pick 11-16 books that really resonate with the students and faculty in your community than it is to create a large list consisting of every book that you find. Both Aela and Laila used their critical thinking skills and their knowledge of evaluating sources to come up with just the right titles!
Please join me in thanking Aela and Laila for their hard work and commitment to the Bryn Mawr Community!
