We already have a lot of Jbrary fans here in IFLS-land–I know a lot of people who rely on Dana and Lindsey for friendly demos of rhymes and songs that are great for storytime. They also have a blog full of thoughtful and thought-provoking ideas and resources. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it.
A recent guest post by Jessica Bratt, the youth services librarian from Grand Rapids, MI, and a 2016 Library Journal Mover and Shaker included some great tips for talking about race in storytime. A lot of time, white people tend to avoid talking about race at all in fear of starting up controversy or saying something wrong by accident. However, not ever explicitly talking about race hasn’t exactly been a great way of dealing with it. Jessica provides a really great, accessible, and friendly approach to just including a tidbit here and there about race in storytime. I highly recommend taking some time to read her blog post and check out the toolkit! So much practical advice!