March 24, 2016
Andrea Cipriani Mecchi/Janice Dias
Marley Dias, pictured, launched a campaign in January 2016 to collect 1,000 black girl books, advocating diverse representation in literature and school curriculums.
In her journey this January to collect 1,000 black girl books, all in the name of advocating diverse representation in literature, 11-year-old Philly native Marley Dias managed to not only hit that 1,000-book benchmark, but blow past it, collecting 4,000 books after going viral on the web and making appearances on TV shows like "Ellen."
Now, as promised from the get-go, Dias and her mother have compiled a resource guide that lists 700 of the books collected during the book drive. They've even gone through the trouble of reviewing how prominent the books' black characters are and have sorted the books by reading level. The guide is meant to be an ongoing resource for schools, libraries and parents.
These 700 are also only the beginning: Each month, starting in April, the resource guide will be updated with more book titles. They're also still accepting books, which can be sent to the address below. (Though, do comb through the guide to see what's already been donated.)
View the database here.
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main St.
Suite 323
West Orange, NJ 07052
