Seeking more diversity in school reading

As the Black Lives Matter movement grew over the summer, Sea Cliff resident and former Glen Cove City School District special education teacher Mary Ellen Cuomo said, she felt helpless in the battle to end racism.

“I felt like I couldn’t do anything to help with the cause,” said Cuomo, 68, who is now a real estate agent with Daniel Gale Sotheby International Realty. “I did do things like writing to the police and our representatives in the government, talking about things that I thought should change, but I didn’t think that was enough, and I wanted to help with the cause.”

Cuomo brainstormed with her daughter, Stephanie, a first-year educator in Philadelphia, on how they could get involved. They decided to start with children.

When she worked in the Glen Cove School District, Cuomo said, “I saw that there weren’t that many books that were racially diverse. Most of the books we were reading in the past were mostly about white children. In 2019, I started to see one or two books in a few classrooms that [had] diverse kids as main characters.”

In the interest of adding more books to district shelves that were written by or featured characters who are Black or Indigenous or others of color, the Cuomos launching an Instagram page called  “bipoc_books_project” in July, along with a GoFundMe site to help fund their efforts.

“In order to end racism, first of all you have to educate your youth, because they’re the ones who are going to grow up and end a cycle,” Mary Ellen said. “We figured that this is one way of helping, and plus, after all the protests and everything that went on in the summer, you don’t want these kids going back to school and finding out, oh, everything is the same.

“We felt that it was really important for these kids to see that something’s changing,” she added. “The books are changing, at least.”

By the fall, the Cuomos had collected over $1,000 in donations to buy books from two independent book stores owned and operated by Black women — the Sisters Uptown Bookstore, in Manhattan, and the Lit Bar, in the Bronx.

“I went to the city and picked them up, and then I brought them into school and donated them,” Cuomo said. “I’m friendly with two of the teachers, and they said the kids are loving it, loving the books.”

English Language Arts Coordinator Bryce Klatsky used a metaphor about windows and mirrors in describing the books’ benefit. Students can see themselves and their experiences in literature — as in a mirror, he said — and also see people who are different, giving them a new perspective and an empathetic experience — as through a window.

“We’re excited that these books will serve different functions for students,” Klatsky said, “but certainly help our students just be a little more engaged and involved in their reading lives.”

For now, the books are being used as independent choice reading. “There is a longer-term strategy for integrating them into the curriculum,” he said, “but right now, students are benefiting from having these as options for their own reading.”

Klatsky added that teachers are also benefiting from Cuomo’s donation, because they will use the books in their own discussions of race and equity.

“It is very, very important that we are cognizant of our population, and support all those students in their learning,” district Superintendent Dr. Maria L. Rianna said. “We don’t tolerate racism, we do not tolerate bigotry, we do not tolerate … bullying.” And it is important, she added, for students to know that they are equally important to the district, and that they should all have equal opportunities and support.

Cuomo said she hoped to donate more books featuring diverse voices to other area school districts. “We thought, on a grand scale, that we could get more donations so that we can help other schools that didn’t have the money,” she said, “especially now that we have Covid.”

To donate or to learn more about the BIPOC Book Project, visit www.gofundme.com/f/bipoc-book-project.