While you can find diverse books by searching different diversity topics in the Children’s Collection online, our system does not allow you to search for titles based on the diversity of the author/illustrator (African American, BIPOC, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Gender, Religion, etc.). However, using the Diversity Statistics Book Search function on the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), you can identify titles of this nature.
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) is a unique examination, study and research library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A vital gathering place for books, ideas and expertise, the CCBC is committed to identifying excellent literature for children and adolescents and bringing this literature to the attention of those adults who have an academic, professional or career interest in connecting young readers with books. The CCBC regularly reviews thousands of books for children and young adults every year and collates statistics related to diversity.
The CCBC Diversity Statistics Book Search allows you to search books the CCBC has reviewed in a variety of ways. You can search based on diversity topics related to the primary character, or you can search on diversity topics related to the author/illustrator. There is a tutorial on how to search the database located on the website if you forget.
The children’s books are located on the second floor of the Milne Library in the area loosely known as the Dewey Area. The children’s fiction books are located in the EASY section and are arranged by the first three letters of the author’s last name. The nonfiction books are located in the Child Coll section and are arranged using the Dewey Decimal System. This classification system is the system most school libraries use.
The 500 area is the Science category. Mathematics is considered a subset of science in the Dewey Decimal Classification System. If you are looking for books related to Math or Science and would like to browse the shelves, you will want to stick in the area where the call numbers begin with 500.
To locate specific titles, you can use the library’s Milne Search function on the library homepage. Beneath the search bar on the Search tab, you will see a link for Advanced Search. Click on that. You will then see a large search box. On this page, you can select the Children’s Collection. By selecting this choice, you can search specifically for books in the Children’s Collection. This function allows you to filter out books that would not be in that particular area.