LCPS stated in August that the county is “celebrating its student population with an investment in diverse text collections for all K-12 English Language Arts classrooms.”

Dozens of diverse books were selected for each grade level by LCPS teachers, administrators, and specialists trained to identify “culturally responsive and diverse texts,” LCPS states on the English Language Arts section of the website. At the high school level, documents of 113 pages and more were uploaded with lists of books, summaries and awards/honors that the book received.

“It’s great that children are going to be able to hear different kinds of voices and perspectives from all over the world,” Jessica Werfel, senior, said.

Books for high schoolers include texts such as Nujood Ali’s “I Am Nujood, Age 10 And Divorced” and Becky Albertalli’s “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.”

Books were selected based off “representation, authorship, relevance to students’ lives, authentic voice, and developmental appropriateness,” LCPS states on the website.

“I think it’ll be beneficial for children to open up their minds and give them a glimpse into diverse cultures,” Inaya Zubair, senior, said.

The statement and documents of books for each grade level can be found here.