Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares that the stories she wrote in her childhood were exactly the stories she was reading. Her characters were foreign,“ books by their very nature had to have foreigners in them and had to be about things with which I could not personally identify.” Literature offers a space from which children construct and ascribe meaning to others and themselves. It is then perhaps the foremost place of inquiry to look into how issues of diversity are taken up – Whose story does it tell? Who is this story written for? Who is not included? Whose perspective counts? These are questions that 17 year old Anokhi Mehra raises in India On My Bookshelf as she journeys through the Indian literary landscape to discover literature from her country- reading one book from each state to uncover for herself the voices she had not heard. The work of diversity starts with scraping the surface of the word to reveal what hides beneath. How do we decide if a text is high quality? What complex questions does it ask us to take up? Can our discourse ever be separated from our subjectivities? What does the search for ‘culturally authentic’ representations really mean? Do we appear to be seeking a ‘diversity of representations of the diverse’? It is these complexities, contradictions and tensions surrounding ideas of representation that Sujata Noronha invites us to engage within Diverse Questions around Diversity.
A library collection that encompasses stories, experiences, languages, or culture from the margins empowers not only those who find their narratives represented but also offers an opportunity for others to expand their view of the world and challenge any prejudices they may have. The library educators at Bookworm, through the Diverse Book Project, are working to put together an online resource on building a diverse book collection. Their article 100 Diverse Books to make a Collection calls attention to ten core themes that are inclusive of diverse experiences and voices and resonate with readers. This work of diversity, can also mean focussing only on certain voices that have been historically missing or suppressed. Some libraries are built to center these voices; their collection offering information and knowledge that support, strengthen and create space for change. Filmmaker and writer, Paromita Vohra revisits one such library through her 2001 interview with Sonal Shukla, co-founder of Vacha, a women’s movement that started out as a feminst library. Making Friendship with Feminist Books is about “finding of books and the finding of yourself through books”, through serendipitous encounters with books tied to the world of feminism.
Further, as we unpack the meaning of diversity and expand notions of who we can be or challenge who we cannot be, books may offer a vantage point, a reflection, or a space to acknowledge and embrace other experiences. The Agents of Ishq Queer Reading List, offers exceptional books by Indian authors that bring forth queer experiences through personal narratives, poetry, stories and academic scholarhip and push back against socially constructed norms of gender and sexuality. Making space for diverse experiences and voices requires the recognition of having advantage – whether it’s age, ethnicity, physical ability, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation in relation to those who don’t. In An ‘I-Don’t-Know’ Readerly Problem, Alia Sinha urges one to think about why some languages are privileged, how these become dominant and how language privilege renders many texts inaccessible to those without that privilege.
This issue of Torchlight also asks us to hear those voices from within the library that don’t always find center stage. Voices from the Library showcases those who make libraries work. What brought them to the library and what keeps there? What does the library give to them and what do they hope to give to others by working in the library? Nikhil, Nitish and Priyanka, three young creative practitioners associated with Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education add to this mesh of plural voices from the city through their stories of three readers in their community in सावदा घेवरा के पाठक. These young adults’ heartfelt and insightful writing is not only a poignant reminder that access to books, the freedom to read anytime, and a place to read are things that many take for granted but also highlights diverse reading experiences we have.
As informal centers of learning and education, libraries push back against a structured learning environment by offering a freer learning environment not constrained by assessments and supervision. In A Library for a Home, Megha Dharnidharka brings to light the diverse roles that libraries play and the needs they meet for children living in children’s homes – residential institutions caring for children whose families are unfit or unable to take care of them.
In the article, On the Same Page, we look at the leveraging of digitally mediated spaces that only challenge and resist dominant narratives but also initiate, impact or influence global movements around diversity and inclusion.
And finally, Whose Land? Whose Rain? Whose Voice? attempts to distill a conversation with Sushil Shukla around diversity in children’s books. Who do we include when we think of diverse voices, diverse experiences, diverse stories. Do we only make space for human experiences and stories? What about other beings on earth? We hope the illustrations and a Hindi poem by Naresh Saksena will catalyse a conversation amidst our readers on how to imagine and work towards diversity.