2016+Picture+Book+Extravaganza!

=2016 Picture Book Extravaganza!=

Approximately 70 WSU students, school teachers, school librarians, and children's librarians from public libraries (including some retirees from the latter three) met on Saturday, February 20th, in the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library's Group Study Room, for the 8th Annual Picture Book Extravaganza! The event was co-sponsored by Greene County Public Library, WSU University Libraries, and the Charles & Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center. Our thanks go to the Wright State University Bookstore, who sold books for us.



Our Favorite Book:
This year's favorite book was "I Yam a Donkey!" by Cece Bell, published by Clarion Books.

Breakout Session: We Need to Include Diverse Books (in libraries, classrooms, and reading instruction), presented by Elaine Fultz and sponsored by Scholastic Books.
The grassroots organization, We Need Diverse Books, asserts in its mission statement that it aims to: How we define diversity: John Green added in a recent (October 2015) speech on Why Stories Matter: [Readers can] …live inside different bodies and different consciousnesses. For these reasons and more, educators must offer stories that present all kinds of people. Most of us have experienced the validation of seeing ourselves in a book. All children deserve the opportunity to recognize their reflection in their literature. This breakout session will focus on LGBTQ inclusive titles.
 * Advocate [for] essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
 * We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.



Elaine Fultz is currently the District Library Media Specialist for Madison Local Schools in Butler County. In 2014 she received an award, named in her honor, from PFLAG Dayton for her service to the organization and the young people and families it supports.