May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
Association for Library Service to Children ensures the lecture will be a lasting contribution that is available to a broad audience.
About
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 Honor Lecture Endowment, and administered by ALSC.
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.
To link Arbuthnot's name with an oratory award makes perfect sense. When accepting the award in 1969, she recalled "that long stretch of years when I was dashing from one end of the country to the other, bringing children and books together by way of the spoken word." She also affirmed, "I am a strong believer in the efficacy of direct speech.... a forthright vigorous lecture can set fire to a piece of literature that had failed to come to life from the printed page." She was thrilled at the prospect of this award providing a forum for "new voices speaking with new insight and new emphasis in the field of children's lectures." (Quote from The Arbuthnot Lectures, 1970-79, ALA/ALSC, 1980.)
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Categories:
Grant Information
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Neil Gaiman
2019 - Winner(s) |
2019 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Debbie Reese
2018 - Winner(s) Dr. Reese is a longtime advocate for Native representation and is a former teacher and university professor. She earned her PhD in Education from the... |
2018 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Naomi Shihab Nye
2017 - Winner(s) Naomi Shihab Nye will deliver the 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. The daughter of a Palestinian father and an American mother, Naomi Shihab Nye... |
2017 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Pat Mora
2016 - Winner(s) Pioneering author and literacy advocate Pat Mora has written more than three dozen books for young people that represent the Mexican American experience. |
2016 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Andrea Davis Pinkney
2014 - Presenter(s) Andrea Davis Pinkney is a New York Times best-selling writer of more than 20 books for children and young adults including picture books, novels and... |
2014 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Morpurgo
2013 - Presenter(s) Born in England, Morpurgo was teaching when he discovered the magic of storytelling and began writing. His books are noted for their imagination, power and... |
2013 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Sis
2012 - Presenter(s) Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1949, Sís attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London. He has... |
2012 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Lowry
2011 - Presenter(s) The internationally acclaimed author’s career spans more than 30 years. She is a two-time recipient of the Newbery Medal, in 1990 for “Number the Stars,”... |
2011 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Horning
2010 - Presenter(s) director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), will deliver the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. The announcement was made by... |
2010 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Myers
2009 - Presenter(s) Hosted by the Langston Hughes Library at the Children's Defense Fund Alex Haley Farm, Clinton, Tennessee |
2009 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Macaulay
2008 - Presenter(s) Hosted by South Central Library System, Madison, Wisconsin |
2008 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Henkes
2007 - Presenter(s) Hosted by the McConnell Center for the Study of Youth Literature, University of Kentucky SLIS |
2007 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Freedman
2006 - Presenter(s) Hosted by the Williamsburg Regional Library with the support of The Library of Virginia and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. |
2006 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson
2005 - Presenter(s) Co-hosted by the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School. |
2005 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Le Guin
2004 - Presenter(s) Hosted by Maricopa County Library District, Arizona State University (ASU), and the Arizona Center for the Book |
2004 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sendak
2003 - Presenter(s) Hosted by Cambridge (Mass.) Public Library and Children's Literature Inc. |
2003 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Pullman
2002 - Presenter(s) Le Frak Hall, Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Flushing, NY. |
2002 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Cooper
2001 - Presenter(s) Scottish Rite Center, Portland, Ore., hosted by Multnomah County Library. |
2001 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Rochman
2000 - Presenter(s) Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. |
2000 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Gerhardt
1999 - Presenter(s) San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science, San Jose, CA. |
1999 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Hirschman
1998 - Presenter(s) Richland County Public Library and the College of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. |
1998 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Paterson
1997 - Presenter(s) Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD. |
1997 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sutherland
1996 - Presenter(s) Dallas Public Library, Dallas, TX |
1996 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Fisher
1995 - Presenter(s) University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI |
1995 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| McElderry
1994 - Presenter(s) Coronado Public Library, CA |
1994 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton
1993 - Presenter(s) Virginia Center for the Book, Richmond, VA |
1993 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Huck
1992 - Presenter(s) Montana Library Association annual conference, Bozeman, MT |
1992 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Opie
1991 - Presenter(s) Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
1991 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan
1990 - Presenter(s) University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA |
1990 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Mahy
1989 - Presenter(s) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA |
1989 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Bierhorst
1988 - Presenter(s) University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK |
1988 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Houston
1987 - Presenter(s) Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL |
1987 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Chambers
1986 - Presenter(s) University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR |
1986 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Wrightson
1985 - Presenter(s) Indiana University, hosted by the Stone Hills Area Library Services Authority, Bloomington, IN |
1985 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Eichenberg
1984 - Presenter(s) Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center, Minneapolis, MN |
1984 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Jacobs
1983 - Presenter(s) Center for the Study of Literature for Young People at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA |
1983 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Butler
1982 - Presenter(s) Florida State University, Orlando, FL |
1982 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Betancourt
1981 - Presenter(s) Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX |
1981 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Kunze
1980 - Presenter(s) University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI |
1980 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Egoff
1979 - Presenter(s) University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC |
1979 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Ofek
1978 - Presenter(s) Boston Public Library, Boston, MA |
1978 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Watanabe
1977 - Presenter(s) Boise State University, Boise, ID |
1977 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Fritz
1976 - Presenter(s) Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA |
1976 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter
1975 - Presenter(s) Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA |
1975 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Southall
1974 - Presenter(s) University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
1974 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Hürlimann
1973 - Presenter(s) University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO |
1973 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Ørvig
1972 - Presenter(s) University of Chicago, Chicago, IL |
1972 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Townsend
1971 - Presenter(s) Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, Atlanta, GA |
1971 - Presenter(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Fisher
1970 - Presenter(s) Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. |
1970 - Presenter(s) |
Suggestions for Lecturers are welcomed from both ALSC members and the ALSC award committee.It is suggested that all formal nominations be submitted via email, fax, and/or U.S. mail.
Suggested Information for a Nomination
The Lecturer is announced at the Youth Media Awards Press Conference at Midwinter Meeting. The host site is announced at the ALSC Membership Meeting in June or July.
