News Briefs

Forty years after taking a stand against censorship, librarian Emily Wheelock Reed has been honored by the Association for Library Service to Children with a resolution titled "Emily Wheelock Reed's Defense of the Freedom to Read in Alabama-1959." In 1959, a segregationist legislator in the state of Alabama, Senator E. O. Eddins, attacked Garth Williams's book The Rabbits' Wedding (Harper, 1958) as a dangerous example of material that

promoted miscegenation. The book featured the wedding of two rabbits, one black and one white. Reed was director of the Public Library Service in Alabama at the time and refused to comply with the order to remove the book. In fact, she continued to defend other "pro-integration" titles that came under attack. Segregationist legislators attempted to oust Reed from her post and failed--and the book remained in the library.

The Big Red TV Star

The perennial children's favorite, Clifford the Dog, created by author-illustrator Norman Bridwell almost 40 years ago, is being adapted as an animated television series that will launch on PBS stations this fall. The 40 half-hour episodes of Clifford will air Monday through Friday, with voices provided by John Ritter as

Clifford, Kel Mitchell as T-Bone, and Grey DeLisle as Emily Elizabeth, Clifford's owner. The series is part of the PBS Ready-to-Learn Service, an outreach program that establishes partnerships between local public television stations and community organizations.

Author Turns Loss into Gain

Going to the Chapel

Linda Wallace, director of the American Library Association's (ALA) public information office, is leaving the position after 16 years. Wallace decided to make the break to coincide with her marriage next month. "ALA has been wonderful and there have been some incredible moments, such as setting up meetings for various ALA presidents with Bill Clinton, not to mention the 'Libraries Change Lives' campaign of the early '90s," says Wallace. Wallace plans to continue working as a freelance consultant but not necessarily in the same field. She started out in journalism and has been working with libraries since she was community relations coordinator for the Mideastern Michigan Library Cooperative. She went on to work at ALA and the rest is history.

Prolific Illustrator Dies

Leonard Weisgard, illustrator of more than 300 children's books and renowned for his collaboration with author Margaret Wise Brown, died on January 14 at his home in Copenhagen. He was 83. A native of New Haven, CT, Weisgard's career as an illustrator began at age 17. In 1947 he won the Caldecott Medal for The Little Island, written by Brown under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald. His collaboration with her on the "Noisy Books" began in 1939 with a series of titles that urged young readers to imitate the sounds of animals and everyday life. In 1969 Weisgard was sent to Denmark by his U.S. publisher to see if it was any cheaper to publish books there. He loved it so much that he relocated his family and never left.

School Librarians Won't Be Shut Out

When the American Library Association's nominating committee failed to put any school librarians on the 2000 council ballot, a lot of people were upset. (See News, February, p. 17.) But now, thanks to a powwow at the midwinter meeting, there will be three or four school librarians appearing with the other candidates. Members of the council's informal youth caucus persuaded a few people to run by petition. The group hopes to avoid the problem next year by finding potential candidates early.