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Families with children are one of the fastest growing homeless populations in the United States, but are often left out of public library discussions of services to the homeless. This article will explore the demographics and educational issues surrounding children and teens who are experiencing homelessness in order to make the case that library services specifically for them are necessary. It will also look at the role library programs and services for their parents can play in improving literacy skills within the family unit. In addition, the article will examine model library services to children, teens and families experiencing homeless gathered from librarians engaged in this work throughout the US.

While there is still much to be done, there have been tremendous strides made in increasing the diversity of children's literature; however one area that is often overlooked in these conversations is social class. From years of providing picture book story time to young children living in homeless shelters, it became obvious that picture books being published in the U.S. privilege the experiences of middleand upper-class people, especially in their depictions of home and housing. Based on analysis of 185 picture books published in the U.S. between 1999 and 2019, I argue that home as typically represented in children's picture books presents a limited and privileged view that normalizes single-family homes, material possessions, and related middle-class experiences. Further, these books do not reflect the lived experience of the millions of American children in the United States experiencing homelessness and housing instability, as well as those who live in apartments, trailers and other types of homes that contemporary picture books would have us believe do not exist.

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