PROVO, Utah — A Provo girl is working hard to put books on shelves to help other children feel better represented at the library.
Emi Kim is part Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian. Her project started two years ago when the 11-year-old was looking for a book that highlighted her culture in the school library and couldn’t find one.
“I decided to raise money through a lemonade stand to buy diverse books for schools,” said Kim.
What started off as wanting to raise enough money to buy a few books for her school library has grown over the past two years to over 300 books, all of which highlight people of color and those with disabilities and are neurodivergent as well.
“I love seeing diverse books everywhere because I can relate to the main character a lot more because we share more similar experiences knowing that we’re of the same ethnicity,” said Kim. “Books are very accessible way to meet new people, without actually meeting them. And it’s also going to help them build empathy for others.”
Schools like Majestic Elementary Arts Academy in West Jordan have embraced what Emi is doing.
“Emi donated the original copies, as you know, and they have become the most popular books in our library, and we had to buy two extra copies of each one,” said Marianne Johansen, the principal at Majestic.
Kim's books are marked with a little heart, and the school also hosts "Emi Time" where kids come in by grade level and get to read the books that she donated. For children of color, or those who have felt underrepresented in the past, seeing themselves in books makes the world of a difference.
“We don’t really see these a lot, so it’s nice to see them now,” said Kim.
Emi thoughtfully selects books to make sure they are written and illustrated by people of the same ethnicity, background or abilities as the characters in the stories so they are authentic accounts.
“Maybe a new kid from a different ethnicity, they’ll walk into this library and see themselves on the shelves, or other people.”
