ALA's Top Honor Goes to Three Big Names in Children's Services

Pat Mora, Effie Lee Morris, and Peggy Sullivan—three superstars in children’s services—were elected honorary members of the American Library Association for their outstanding contributions of lasting importance to libraries and librarianship.

Linda Perkins, the manager for children’s services at Berkeley Public Library, says she was surprised that the three women were given ALA’s highest honor simultaneously because previous recipients were generally not associated with children’s services.

Mora, a Latina poet and author, was bestowed the honor for her work in bilingual reading for children, her establishment of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), and her commitment to libraries and the promotion of reading and inclusiveness, says ALA.

Mora in 1996 proposed El día de los niños/El día de los libros, also known as “Dia,” which is now celebrated by libraries annually as a way to connect kids with books, languages and cultures. The event is sponsored by the Association for Library Service for Children and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA).

Mora, a former teacher and university administrator who advocates sharing “bookjoy,” received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from SUNY Buffalo in 2006 and will receive an Honorary Doctorate in May from North Carolina State University. Her books for children and adults have been recognized for their excellence by ALA, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and others. In 2002, the Texas Library Association recognized her as one of “100 Library Champions.”

“She is certainly an advocate for kids and reading—and she’s enthusiastic about it,” says Kathy Toon, who managed the public services of the state library in Tallahassee, Fl, and has known Mora for about 15 years. “She’s just totally decided. I think it’s a passion.” 

Morris, nominated for her “vision, advocacy and legacy to children’s services in public libraries,” was the first coordinator of children’s services for the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). While there, she established the Children’s Historical and Research Collection, which was later named for her. In 1977, the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) established an annual lecture in her name to accompany the collection.

Grace Ruth, the children’s collection development manager at SFPL, who was trained by Morris and worked with her for more than 10 years before she retired in the late 1970s, says, “She was unbelievable. She’s a very deserving person, and she’s done a lot in the community and in the state. She really fought for the rights of the child.”

Morris also established the first Negro History Week celebration for children at the Cleveland Public Library and was the first Children’s Specialist for the Blind at the New York Public Library. In 1971, she became the first African-American president of the Public Library Association.

Morris has also won a Grolier Award, the WNBA National Book Award for “Extraordinary Contribution to the World of Books,” the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Trailblazer Award, and the University of San Francisco Reading the World Award.

Sullivan, a library consultant, was nominated for her more than 50 years of dedicated librarianship during which she wrote the definitive scholarly history of the tenure of Carl Milam (ALA secretary 1920-1946) and the growth of ALA into an international organization.

Sullivan’s wide-ranging career include President of ALA’s Children’s Services Division (now ALSC); assistant commissioner for extension services at the Chicago Public Library; ALA president from 1980 to 1981; ALA executive director; dean of the LIS program at Rosary College (now Dominican University); dean of the College of Professional Studies at Northern Illinois University; and numerous university teaching positions.

From 1963 to 1968, Sullivan served as director of the Knapp School Libraries Project, which had a great impact on convincing the public of the need for high quality school library media programs.

In 2004, Sullivan established the Sullivan Award for Public Administrators, which is presented annually to an individual who has shown exceptional understanding and support of public library service to children while having general management/supervisory/administrative responsibility that has included public library service to children in its scope.

Lillian Gerhardt, a former editor of School Library Journal who has known Sullivan since 1965 as a friend and colleague, says “If anybody has ever deserved this honor more, I can’t think who it is.”

The honorees will receive honorary membership plaques in June 2008 during the Opening General Session of the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.