Something About Me
My name is Alena Rivers and I will be working on the ALSC Arbuthnot webpage content as well as other ALSC webpages, as needed.
I am the Deputy Director for ALSC, the Association for Library Service to Children. My staff liaison, or web contact in ALSC staff member Laura Schulte-Cooper.
Here are a few things you might want to know about me.
- I earned my MLIS and started working at ALA in 2017
- I have been married for 16 years and am mother to two girls.
- We enjoy trips to the library, playgrounds, swimming pools, and theater/dance events.
Something About the Arbuthnot Lecture
The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture is an annual event featuring an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, of any country, who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature. This paper is delivered as a lecture each April, and is subsequently published in Children and Libraries, the journal of ALSC.
Once the name is made public, institutions wishing to host the lecture may apply. A library school, department of education in a college or university, or a public library system may be considered.
Something About May Hill Arbuthnot
May Hill Arbuthnot (1884-1969) was born in Mason City, IA, and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1922, receiving her master's degree in 1924 from Columbia University. Along with educator William Scott Gray, she created and wrote the Curriculum Foundation Readers—better known as the "Dick and Jane" series—for children, published by Scott, Foresman and Company (now Pearson Scott Foresman).
Her greatest contribution to children's literature, however, was her authorship of Children and Books, the first edition of which was published in 1947. In 1927, she joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, and there she met and married Charles Arbuthnot, an economics professor. She also served as editor of both Childhood Education and Elementary English. Her other works include The Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature and Children's Books Too Good to Miss.