At the beginning of 2015 we conducted our Diversity Baseline Survey to measure the amount of diversity among publishing staff across the industry. The numbers told us something we already knew: publishing suffers from a major lack of diversity, not just in books but also in staff.
But we’ve also received this question: How diverse are the authors and illustrators that Lee & Low publishes? And how diverse is our Lee & Low staff?
As the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States, we think this information is important to share. Below you’ll find our demographic breakdown of our authors and illustrators as well as our staff.
In the graphs below, the term “PoC” refers to “people of color.” We use this term to mean people of African/African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latin American, Middle Eastern, or Native American/Indigenous descent.
“Non PoC” means someone who does not fit into any of those categories, which usually means that someone is White/Caucasian.
Lee & Low Staff: 68% PoC, 32% non PoC
Lee & Low Published Authors: 61% PoC, 39% non PoC
Lee & Low Published Illustrators: 76% PoC, 24% non PoC
Lee & Low Contributors: 90% PoC, 10% non PoC
At LEE & LOW BOOKS, we take pride in our mission to publish diverse stories that all children can enjoy and we continue to make the special effort to work with authors and illustrators of color.
Find more information about our Diversity Baseline Study here.
Check out our Diversity Gap studies here.
