We Need Diverse Books

For the last year, a movement has been sweeping through the publishing industry, particularly in those parts that deal with children’s books. It’s called We Need Diverse Books and we are excited to be hosting a panel discussion featuring its principals Ellen Oh and Aisha Saeed, as well as author activists Gene Yang and Tracey Baptiste.

We Need Diverse Books is a grassroots organization created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature. The organization is committed to the ideal that embracing diversity will lead to acceptance, empathy and, ultimately, equality.

The movement was spearheaded last summer by GBF author Ellen Oh (we’re so proud!) and a group of 21 other children’s book writers and industry professionals. It began as a social media awareness campaign and quickly grew into a global movement that demanded the attention of the publishing industry, the media and readers everywhere.

We are excited to support this important movement, which can ultimately make a big difference for our very diverse community here in Gaithersburg.

Please join us for the We Need Diverse Books panel at 11:15 a.m. at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 16 and be part of the discussion.