Lynn Lawrence-Brown

Lynn Lawrence-Brown

Teacher Librarian, Information Literacy Specialist and Extended Essay Coordinator, Hong Kong Academy

Lynn Lawrence-Brown is Hong Kong Academy’s (HKA) Secondary Teacher Librarian and Information Literacy Specialist. Her mission is to inspire students to become lifelong readers, focusing on diverse literature to introduce students to new worlds and allow them to empathize with others. She also believes it is imperative that students become responsible consumers and producers of information and is passionate about developing global citizenship through teaching critical information literacy (CIL). To this end, she is currently developing HKA’s CIL Continuum.

Outside of the HKA’s library she is a guest blogger for We Need Diverse Books, does book reviews, sensitivity reading, and study guides for diverse writers, and is a member of APALA, ALA, and ALESS Hong Kong.

Lynn has experience teaching in learner support and various classroom roles, and supported HKA’s Primary School Library for three years. Previously, Lynn enjoyed a 12-year career in public relations, consulting corporates throughout Asia. Lynn was born in Taiwan and raised in the U.S. She received an MLIS degree from the University of Illinois and is a K-12 certified Teacher Librarian. She previously graduated from Colby College with a B.A. in East Asian Studies, leading her to study and live in Greater China for over 30 years.

In my presentation, “Why Diversity Matters in Library Collections, Diversifying & What to do with Books with Misrepresentation,” I will discuss the inequities in the English publishing industry and what that translates into the books that we see on international school library shelves and classroom text resources. I will also share why representation and diversity matter in library and classroom resources, how librarians and schools can evaluate the issue and de-center whiteness, and what librarians and schools can do with books with misrepresentation. I strongly believe that librarians and school administrators can work together to be agents of social change and that libraries can be the center to drive this change. I will speak to first-hand examples of what I have been doing to de-center whiteness and diversify HKA’s library collection for greater representation and to foster a wider sense of belonging for students at Hong Kong Academy.