Our recommended books for the Library of Request

Thirty-four diverse books dangled at the Zoom Children Museum around this time last year. Each year the Library of Requests and Schwarze Frauen Community (SFC) host a collaborative exhibition called Wiener Festwochen.  In 2019, the exhibition featured a book installation. The event calls upon local activists, community organizers, authors, readers and lovers of children’s literature to contribute to curating an inclusive and empowering list for the exhibit.

ReadWheel recommended (I like Myself, I am Enough, It’s okay to be different, Mein Weg mit Vanessa, Don’t touch my hair, and Am I a Color Too?). The motivation behind our choices was to promote narratives that addressed topics, such as self-acceptance, self-love, exploring identities, and self-advocacy. All of these topics are relevant to the lives of families in Vienna’s black community. As an attendee, I was extremely impressed at the range of titles for black children and youth.

The inclusiveness reminded me how much literature is out there waiting to be read.

One of the greatest gifts, you can give a child are the lenses to see who they are and have it reflected in a book. The exhibit gave families a chance to enjoy books they wouldn’t normally spot on their local library shelves.  The books will empower children to read more and help them love themselves. The titles serve its purpose for the SFC families in their organizational library. We’re glad to have been able to contribute to the list.

If you missed it last year, the downloadable list is still available at https://belindakazeem.com/lor/. You can also read our blog post reviewing one of the books we recommended, “Am I a Color Too?” By Heide Cole.

Fotos (c) Inés Bacher