University of Wisconsin-Madison chosen as site for 2019 Arbuthnot Lecture

For Immediate Release
Tue, 07/31/2018

Contact:

Courtney Jones

Awards Coordinator

ALSC

American Library Association

312-280-2163

alscawards@ala.org

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) announced that the 2019 May Hill Arbuthnot Committee has selected the University of Wisconsin at Madison as the host site for the 2019 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring advocate and educator Debbie Reese, PhD. Three University of Wisconsin at Madison units will combine and collaborate in this hosting effort: the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), the School of Information (the ISchool), and the School of Education. The lecture will be held in the spring of 2019.

Kathleen T. Horning, Director of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin Madison observed: “In our own diversity work, Debbie Reese’s criticism has been so important in helping us evaluate accurate and authentic Native literature that we are thrilled with the honor of hosting her lecture. We look forward to making certain that her Arbuthnot Lecture reaches a wide audience of teachers and librarians here in Wisconsin and beyond.”

Barbara A. Genco, 2019 Arbuthnot Committee Chair noted that “Our selection of Dr. Reese recognizes her strong modeling of inclusion, integrity, and respect (ALSC Core Values) via the timely insights she shares on the influential blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature.

A longtime advocate for Native representation and a former teacher and university professor, Dr. Reese earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois, where she also helped establish the Native American House and American Indian Studies program. She also has an MLIS degree from San Jose State University. Dr. Reese is tribally enrolled at Nambe Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico.

The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture celebrates May Hill Arbuthnot, who served as a strong voice for children’s literature. Each year a lecturer is chosen who will prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature. This paper is delivered as a lecture each spring and is subsequently published through Children & Libraries, the journal of ALSC. ALSC established the lecture series in 1969 with sponsorship from Scott, Foresman, and Company. The lectureship is now funded by the ALSC May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Endowment and administered by ALSC.

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC visit www.ala.org/alsc.

Members of the 2019 Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Committee are: Chair Barbara A. Genco, Consultant, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Ernie J. Cox, Prairie Creek Intermediate School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Julie Dietzel-Glair, Baltimore; Rebecca D. Heard, Chicago Public Library; and Kiera Parrott, Library Journal/School Library Journal, Brooklyn, N.Y.