Collections, Programs and Services

Poster Session

Level Up and Avoid the Kryptonite: Creating Collections for Nerds of Color

Poster Organizer(s)

• 

  Jewel Davis, MLIS MAT

  Education Librarian
  Appalachian State University

In this interactive role-playing board game styled poster session, participants will “play” to learn about the common damaging narratives young nerds of color and native nerds face when engaging with media that does not authentically represent their diverse experiences. Common tropes, stereotypes, and biases will be featured as characters on playing cards. After participants “roll” and “battle” the various types of damaging characters, they will land on a wisdom space and learn about alternative review resources youth advocates can use to help them find and evaluate diverse materials. Participants will then be able to advance to the hidden treasure and learn about new and upcoming authentically diverse materials (books, movies, games, etc.). This poster session responds to the call for more authentic representation and critical evaluation of popular media featuring racially and ethnically diverse characters. Participants will leave with media recommendations and specific examples of biases they can look for when selecting and evaluating popular culture materials. Handouts including anti-bias evaluation questions, resource links, and media recommendations will be available.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the common types of damaging biases, stereotypes, and tropes found in young adult speculative fiction and popular culture that feature characters of color and native characters
• Locate resources outside of major trade review sources that both highlight authentic media representations of race and ethnicity and critique damaging representations
• Recognize and name new and upcoming authentically diverse media (fiction, movies, games, etc.) that can be purchased for library collections