Expanding the Conversation: Factors Influencing Quality Multicultural Literature in Western United States Elementary School Libraries

This study is a follow-up analysis of the 2012 study titled‚ A Study of the Availability of Multicultural Children’s Literature in Treasure Valley Schools: Quality, Access, and Inclusion. The focus of the initial study was the quantity of multicultural literature available in elementary schools; the focus of the current study is the selection process of the literature. Quality multicultural literature encourages children to reaffirm the values of their own culture and come to appreciate those of others. Thus, multicultural literature has a significant impact on students developing identities. For this reason, this article seeks to investigate factors that affect elementary school’s quality multicultural literature acquisition process. Of particular interest are several elementary schools that have a relatively high content, compared to other elementary schools, of multicultural children’s literature. Librarians from these elementary schools were interviewed regarding the school’s literature acquisition process and the librarian’s personal accounts of multicultural children’s literature. Through this analysis this study examines the elementary school's success in attaining quality multicultural literature.