Warsaw Library: Diversity is the Spice of Life
By Amy Mann
Children’s Services
“Variety is the spice of life” is a proverbial saying from the late 18th century. It was originally a quotation from the English poet William Cowper (1731–1800) in The Task (1785): ‘Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour.’ How does this axiom fit into life in the twenty-first century? One word: diversity.
The need for diverse books has been a huge topic of conversation in the library world for the past few years. Diversity promotes the idea that a variety of groups should be represented in each community, and that residents should be recognized for who they are, how they think and feel, and what they can do.
Diverse books let us observe the thoughts and feelings of those unlike ourselves. We might find that we are more alike than we imagined. Alternately, we might stretch our minds with new scenery and language. We don’t need to become like someone else to appreciate their background or viewpoint. A cookie-cutter world would be dull and uninteresting.
One of the picture books in the Children’s collection is titled “What’s the Difference”. Written by Doyin Richards, founder of the blog “Daddy Doin’ Work”, this book celebrates the things we can do together, even if we don’t look and act just like our neighbors and friends. It is a gentle, positive volume that conveys the thoughts of a parent to a child in the photographs on its colorful pages.
Lisa Tawn Bergren and artist Laura J. Bryant present a case for the wonder of diversity in their sweet publication “God Gave Us the World”. Mama bear tells her cub that bears around the world may have different habitats, families, and favorite foods, but that “every bear has a special place in God’s great, big world”. Before you leave the library, be sure to take a look at books such as “The Undefeated”, a “love poem about black life” by Kwame Alexander. Illustrated by
Kadir Nelson, this beautiful picture book has won both the 2020 Caldecott Award and the 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, as well as being a 2020 Newbery Honor book. You can visit us at 310 E. Main Street in Warsaw or online at warsawlibrary.org.