As part of its commitment to an anti-racist stance and to confront bias in the book industry, SIBA is making its innovative 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge available as a packaged training kit for bookstores. The training kit supports businesses in educating staff and community on how anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging enrich and better connect all of us.

The kit is divided into three sections, which seek to help users confront and dismantle bias at ever-widening levels. The sections can be pulled out and used individually for personal training, or they can be used together for a longer training, group sessions, and community dialogue. It includes self-guided lessons, worksheets, concrete action items, journal prompts, and in-depth recourse lists. The toolkit is built for bookstores; however, SIBA encourages anyone in the industry to use it for personal and professional training and reflection.

Click here to request a training kit.

SIBA Executive Director Linda-Marie Barrett said, "Our goal and hope for SIBA’s Anti-Racism Training Kit is to provide an important and very usable resource to our member bookstores. This toolkit is tailored to consider the concerns and challenges of our industry, and organized to be used selectively or as a whole. Whether you’re doing the work on yourself, your store, or the community you serve, our kit offers resources, potential actions, and reflections that apply in the bookstore and beyond."

Inspired by a similar program from the Food Solutions New Englang, SIBA created its original 21-Day Racial Equity Challange in 2021, and has offered it yearly since its inception, as part of the organization's commitment to confronting racism and bias.

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance stands against racism. SIBA is committed to amplifying and supporting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) voices in our membership and industry and to offering educational programming on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to members, SIBA staff, and Board.