'Let’s talk about race': London Public Library celebrates diversity, one kit at a time

The London Public Library (LPL) is celebrating International Day for the Elimination of Racism by launching “Let’s Talk about Race” kits.

Each kit includes age appropriate picture books, helpful information, and toys that parents and educators can use with children as part of learning about racial differences.

LPL’s Programming and Outreach Services Supervisor Olivia Stedman said she wishes she had kits like this when her kids were young.

“They would ask a lot of questions about diversity in their classroom. Why is someone’s skin darker? Why does someone wear something different? And I didn’t have those answers available, I did not grow up in a diverse community so I had to find those answers,” explained Stedman.

LPL said the project has been under development for two years. A lot of work has gone into curating the kits to represent the community and introduce diversity to children at an early age.

“We’ve tried to cover authors that have lived experience, which is extremely important. I am not explaining someone else’s story, it’s them speaking of their experience,” added Stedman.

For Lana Winchester-Tucker, the supervisor of the Masonville library branch, the topic of race is a personal one.

She was born in Trinidad and Tobago and came to Canada in 2007 to pursue a graduate study degree at Western University. She said coming to London, it was readily apparent that she had a different skin colour, something that was a big adjustment.

“We are trying to teach it is not okay to be colour blind, because children see colour, and thinking that they don’t can be faulty and can give sense of speaking about this is forbidden,” explained Winchester-Tucker.

LPL said the initiative was fully funded by donor dollars and stressed the importance and need to expand these kits and branch out into different diversity topics.

“Children are visual learners, they go by what they see. Sometimes they might not understand it, and they might come to you as a parent or teacher or caregiver to find out what am I seeing and help me understand it,” added Winchester-Tucker.

The library has 68 kits that can be checked out for three weeks.

Educators are encouraged to reach out to the library to borrow the kits or bring students in for class visits.