Office Hours is a series focusing on unique artifacts that BYU employees display in their offices.
For a BYU professor, it is typical to have books lining one's shelves.
But unlike most, Tina Taylor has children's and young adult books filling hers. These stories feature children with different abilities, backgrounds, languages and learning needs — young people who have often been overlooked or misrepresented in children's literature.
Taylor doesn't simply collect these books. They reflect a mission she has spent decades pursuing.
After recognizing the lack of authentic representation in children's and young adult literature at a conference, Taylor helped establish the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award. Since 1999, she and a team of students and faculty have evaluated books that portray children with diverse abilities, backgrounds, languages and learning needs with authenticity and respect.
"We want kids in books to feel like real people someone would want to be friends with, not someone to be feared or excluded" said Taylor, a professor in the McKay School of Education,.
Every two years, the award honors authors and illustrators whose stories help young readers experience belonging and see themselves reflected in literature. Many of those award-winning books remain on Taylor's shelves.
"I have lots of friends on my shelf," she said. "When I look at them, I picture what the author intended. I can see the setting and the child in it."
Those books also shape Taylor's teaching. She prepares future educators to create inclusive classrooms and develops lesson plans that use children's literature as a form of bibliotherapy, helping children process emotions, navigate difficult experiences and build resilience.
That mission extends beyond BYU.
Taylor's connection to Thailand began 43 years ago when she served there as a young missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since then, she has continued returning through humanitarian work and most recently spent a year there as a Fulbright scholar.
Each year, she also leads BYU students to orphanages and shelters, where they use stories to help children explore emotions, build resilience and practice mindfulness.
"This work is research, but it's also service," Taylor said. "My motivation comes directly from my heart."
To ensure the impact lasts, Taylor and her students translate their lesson materials into Thai so local teachers can continue using them after the BYU team returns home.
Another artifact in Taylor's office tells the story behind that commitment: 150 handmade felt flowers. The flowers were a gift from teachers and staff in Thailand after Taylor taught there for several months. She treasured them so much that they decorated her wedding. Today, they surround her office and, as she puts it, "feel like home."
Together, the books and the flowers tell the story of Taylor's career. The books reflect her commitment to helping every child find belonging in a story. The flowers remind her of the relationships that have grown from that work across cultures and generations.
