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xviii Introduction recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy as both a masculine term and the preferred term in reference to both groups of mixed genders and in acknowl- edging an individual beyond the gender binary. “Latinx” is an American cre- ation and not regularly used by native Spanish speakers, as the “-x” ending is not customary to the language. “Latine” is also used as a gender-neutral term but is not widely recognized. It is my hope and my intent to compas- sionately advocate for all peoples with this work and to use gender-neutral terms when possible. But it is also not appropriate for me to assign or create terms for someone else’s identity. After discussing the process that many libraries have taken to perform this work and the benefits they have experienced as a result, it is impor- tant to also be critical and discuss its shortcomings. The flaws and limits of audits, as well as areas in which attempts have been made to bring some level of automation to the process, are discussed in Chapter 7. Finally, Chap- ter 8 includes an interview with librarian and writer Karen Jensen of Teen Librarian Toolbox. She has been one of the most outspoken advocates and educators on the subject, having been a part of webinars on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) from the School Library Journal, and I am thrilled she agreed to be interviewed for this project. The intention of this book is that it provides useful information to other librarians and library professionals contemplating diversity audits of their own collections. The landscape in which this study is performed is con- stantly shifting and so, too, must our parameters. It must be forever shifting as we learn more about publishing and our role in it. My work in research- ing, conducting audits of my own, and educating others, however I can, has been an important milestone in my library career. I am fortunate to have come to a position to share that information with you, with the understand- ing that I, too, will continue to learn from this ever-evolving field. Mostly I have learned two very important things: 1. The work of an audit, though arduous, is important in assessing one’s collection, but it is only useful if that information is seriously considered and thoughtfully utilized to inform the future of the collection, and 2. We are unmaking entire library collections that have, thus far, been at the mercy of a homogenous history of publishing. There is no rulebook. NOTE 1. This concept was developed by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop in 1990 and encompasses the opportunity for people to see themselves represented in literature, as well as to experience the culture and lived experiences of others, here understood to be “windows.” This is further elaborated on in Chapter 1.