A month to celebrate

It seems unlikely that all of December's celebrations will be widely acknowledged, and perhaps the one least known is the one announced in the New Yorker this week-- December is National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month. Now this is one that children's librarians should definitely notice. Often we buy books about one group's heritage to make them available to that group, but we fail to recognize that it is the outsiders who need to learn about our minority cultures. Knowledge and acceptance of a variety of cultures is a cornerstone of our country and of the global community. Not only should we provide books by African American authors for white, Asian, and Hispanic children. We should also celebrate the Chinese New Year with African American children and Ramadan with Jewish children. Books are not meant to serve narrow interests but to broaden all of our horizons.