Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo
Associate and Foster-EBSCO Endowed Professor
Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies in 2008, Dr. Naidoo worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in children’s literature, literacy/library services to Latinos, and materials and programs for libraries serving young children. He has worked in both school and public libraries in Alabama as an elementary school library media specialist and as the Coordinator of Juvenile Services in a public library.
Jamie is actively involved in numerous professional associations such as the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA), and the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY). He has served on several prestigious national and international book award committees including the Caldecott, Pura Belpré, and Américas awards and regularly reviews children’s and young adult materials for Library Media Connection and REFORMA.
Dr. Naidoo also consults regularly with various non-profit and for-profit organizations to develop children’s media and educational curricula that authentically and accurately depict the various Latino cultural groups.
Education
Ph.D., Communication and Information, University of Alabama, 2006.
MLIS, University of Alabama, 2000.
B.S., Elementary Education, University of Tennessee (Martin), 1998.
Research Interests
Dr. Nadioo’s research interests focus on the representation of minority populations in media for children and young adults. He is particularly interested in the use of youth media to promote cultural literacy and to assist in the self-identification processes of marginalized children and youth adults. His other research interests include storytelling as meaning-making, library services to Latino children, the School Library Media Center's role in assisting underserved student populations, the history and influence of children's toys and media on children's book publishing, bibliotherapy practices and procedures in the library, the presence of controversial children's literature in the School Library Media Center, and the history of queer (LGBTQ) children’s literature and library services.
Selected Publications:
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Naidoo, J. C. (2012). Rainbow Family Collections: Selecting and Using Children's Books with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Content. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
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Naidoo, J.C., and S. Park. (Eds.) (In Press). Diversity in Youth Literature: Opening Doors Through Reading. Chicago: American Library Association. Anticipated Publication October 2012.
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Naidoo, J.C. (2012). School and public library services, programs, and collections for diverse youth in America. In L. Farmer, et al (Eds.), Youth-Serving Libraries in Japan, Russia, and the United States, pp. 315-338. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
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Naidoo, J. C. and F. Vargas. (Summer 2011). Libraries bridging the borderlands: Reaching Latino tweens and teens with targeted programming and collections.Young Adult Library Services, 9 (4), 13-20.
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Naidoo, J. C. (Ed.). (2010). Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
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Naidoo, J. C., Montiel-Overall, P., Gonzalez, L., Garza de Cortés, O., and I. M. Patterson. (2010). Celebrating culture, reading, & family literacy @ the library with the Latino reading and literacy programs El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) and Noche de Cuentos. 2010 IFLA Conference Proceedings. Available: http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/133-naidoo-en.pdf
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Naidoo, J. C. (2008). Opening doors: Visual and textual analyses of diverse Latino subcultures in Américas picture books. Children and Libraries, 6(2), 27-35.
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Naidoo, J. C. and J. López-Robertson. (2007). Descubriendo el sabor: Spanish bilingual book publishing and cultural authenticity. Multicultural Review, 16(4), 24-37.
Teaching
Dr. Naidoo regularly teaches courses in the areas of diversity, public libraries, youth services, and school library media. These include the following:
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LS 520 Early Childhood Literacy Materials and Story Programs
LS 521 Materials and Services for Children
LS 522 Materials and Services for Young Adults
LS 530 Public Libraries
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LS 541 Youth Programming
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LS 543 Traditional and Digital Storytelling
LS 580 Diversity in Libraries
CIS 620 Advanced Material and Programming for Youth
CIS 621 Intercultural Perspectives in Youth Literature
Outreach
Dr. Naidoo directs the National Latino Children’s Literature Conference, which he developed as a way to help educators and librarians learn how to meet the informational, reading and cultural literacy needs of Latino children, young adults, and their families. Jamie also runs ¡Imagínense Libros! a review blog of Latino children’s and young adult literature which profiles some of the latest news in Latino youth publishing.
As a result of his associations with book award committees and children’s publishers, Jamie receives thousands of new children’s and young adult books each year for the Joan Atkinson Review Collection of Youth Literature. Students enrolled in his youth courses often have the opportunity to evaluate these materials and publish their reviews on SLIS’s Crimson Review of Children’s and Young Adult Literature. At the end of each calendar year, Jamie donates many of these brand new books to school libraries in the Black Belt region of the state via the program he created in 2009 entitled SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt.