Tom Low and Philip Lee found Lee & Low Books with the mission to bring more multicultural children’s books into the marketplace and a focused effort to work with unpublished creators of color.

One of the first Lee & Low titles, Baseball Saved Us, is published and receives a full-page review in The New York Times.

In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, wins a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award from the American Library Association.

The New Voices Award writing contest for a picture book manuscript by an unpublished author of color is established.

An exclusive imprint, offering leveled books for beginning readers in English and Spanish, called Bebop Books® is created in response to educators’ calls for more diverse reading materials for shared and small group reading in the classroom.

The addition of the Tu Books imprint expands the company’s offerings for middle-grade and young adult readers.

The New Visions Award writing contest for unpublished authors of color for middle-grade and young adult manuscripts launches.

Children’s Book Press‘s award-winning diverse and bilingual books becomes an imprint of Lee & Low. Established in 1975, Children’s Book Press was the first independent press in the United States to focus on publishing children’s literature by and about people of color.

The acquisition of Shen’s Books adds a rich backlist focused on Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Island cultures.

Release of The Diversity Gap in Children’s Books infographic on The Open Book Blog based on data from Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s diversity statistics. Its success prompts additional posts examining representation in the New York Times bestsellers list, film, theater, and television, and expands outside the media to US politics and the tech industry. Alarming similarities in the systemic lack of representation show up across these industries.

Named Indie Publisher of the Year by Foreword Magazine for our commitment to diverse books and advocacy work.

Created and sponsored the Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 1.0), the largest data study to measure diversity levels in the publishing workforce. The initial survey included three out of five “Big Five” publishers, major reviewers, as well as small and medium publishing houses. The results revealed a severe lack of diversity in the book publishing workforce, which sparked a renewed sense of urgency and channeling of resources toward recruitment and retention of diverse talent in the industry. DBS 1.0 results were published on January 26, 2016.

Presented the Angel Award at The Carle Honors for “inspiring so many people with its dedication to multicultural books and to a new generation of artists and authors who offer children both mirrors and windows to the world.”

Literacy nonprofit First Book and the NEA Foundation sponsors the publication of an additional debut novel by an author of color under the aegis of the New Visions Award. The resulting book, The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez, is published in 2018.

Conducted the second iteration of the Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0). This time, DBS 2.0 included all the “Big Five” publishers, major reviewers, small and medium publishing houses, and added literary agencies, and university presses. Participant responses grew by 112% from DBS 1.0 to DBS 2.0. The results were made public on January 28, 2020.

Partner with design consultancy OpenIDEO and the William Penn Foundation on the Early Childhood Book Challenge, resulting in publication of I’ll Build You a Bookcase in four bilingual editions (Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese) to support early literacy nationwide.

Beloved borderlands publisher Cinco Puntos Press becomes an imprint, ensuring its stories from Texas, Border, Latinx, and Native life are available to new generations of readers.

Deployed the third iteration of the Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 3.0). DBS has become the industry standard and accountability tool for measuring inclusive hiring in the publishing industry. Age and work location were added to the survey questions and responses increased by 9.5% from DBS 2.0 to DBS 3.0. The DBS statistics have often been cited and/or referenced in doctorate theses and numerous people have discovered the publishing mission of Lee & Low through DBS. The results were publicly released on February 28, 2024.