Our media kit has a timeline that details the progression of our work since it began in 1985, when we became aware that only 18 books were eligible for the 1986 Coretta Scott King Awards.
Beginning in 1994 we began keeping track of the number of books we were receiving by Asian/Pacific, Indigenous and Latine book creators as well. We also began documenting not only the number of books created by Black, Indigenous and People of Color, but the number of books about Black, Indigenous and People of Color, including the titles that have been created by white authors and/or illustrators.
Beginning in 2018, we began documenting the content of every book we received, and to include Disability, LGBTQ and Religion as categories.
Some of the terminology we use has changed across the years in our continuing effort to reflect the changing terminology and preferences of those whose identities we are documenting, especially as reflected in the current discourse and opinions of content experts from those identity groups in our field, but our overall goal of providing an eye-opening look at books for children and teens through the critical lens of diversity has not. (Our media kit has a timeline that details the progression of our work since it began in 1985.)
As reflected on the timeline referenced above, our analysis continues to evolve, along with the technology we use, thanks largely to the feedback we receive from people using the statistics, and experts in the field. Across the years our categories have changed names and also expanded. Most recently, we have added two additional distinct broad race/ethnicity categories: Arab (2020) and Pacific Islander (2019) (formerly captured in a broader “Asian/Pacific” category). (We subsequently updated numbers from 2018 onward to capture these two categories.) This was a direct result of being educated by people from those groups. We continue to learn, and to apply what we learn in the analysis we do.
Additionally, since Kirkus Reviews began documenting the identity of characters in fall, 2015, it allowed us to find out from the review if a longer book we hadn’t read includes a character of color when it isn’t evident based on flap copy. We undoubtedly missed logging some books like this in the past.
Similarly we were once likely to count a book with a brown-skinned child in one of the broad race/ethnicity categories, most often as Black/African, whereas now we track books with brown-skinned characters in which there is no apparent indication of the characters’ specific race or ethnicity in their own “Brown-skinned” category.
Publishing trends also have an impact. For example, in recent years we have seen more original paperback series coming into the CCBC featuring diverse characters and more picture books featuring BIPOC protagonists.
Our work has also become more visible, which means we sometimes get sent books, especially from smaller publishers, specifically with this data analysis in mind.
What hasn’t changed is our commitment to doing the work–both the analysis, and the ongoing learning that makes it possible.