Happy winter, everyone! Children’s library workers kick off each winter season with the excitement of the YMA Press Conference at LibLearnX, the rush of getting the awards seals on the newly announced winning books, and the recently appointed book award committees starting a new cycle of work. Yet, whereas the YMA Press Conference and ALSC book awards activities tend to get so much of our attention, ALSC buzzes yearlong with its work in support of numerous funded programs and activities to further and strengthen the work of children’s librarians, children’s librarianship, and the practice of the profession. One such program is the Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship. This fellowship provides a grant of up to $7,500 for a qualified children’s librarian to spend up to 4 weeks reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, one of the Special and Area Studies Collections of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
We invited ALSC member Joe Prince, the recipient of the 2022 Bechtel Fellowship, to share his story on how the experience impacted his career:
“Receiving the Bechtel Fellowship was one of the highlights of my professional career, and there aren’t enough words in the English language to express my gratitude for being selected as the 2022 fellow. The fellowship challenged my assumptions about historic children’s literature while also allowing me to gain a deeper understanding about the fears and sensibilities of people from a bygone era. I can think of few opportunities that allow children’s librarians to hole up in a library and deeply research a topic that interests them. To have that experience entirely paid for is truly a gift. The Bechtel Fellowship is an experience I will always carry close to my heart, and there’s no conceivable way I could have achieved it without the provided funds.”
Joe is the curriculum and outreach educator in the Curriculum Resource Center at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. His research focused on the historical presentation of grief and loss in children’s books published between 1850 and 1950. He has written an article on the topic that will appear in a forthcoming issue of Children and Libraries. Joe, thanks for sharing your story!
Joe Prince is the curriculum and outreach educator in the Curriculum Resource Center at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. His research focused on the historical presentation of grief and loss in children’s books published between 1850 and 1950. He has written an article on the topic that will appear in a forthcoming issue of Children and Libraries. Joe, thanks for sharing your story!
For our next blog post, we invite you to send us your story about how you have benefited from an ALSC-related program and/or how ALSC has influenced your professional journey. Please email your stories to ALSC Budget Committee members Lucia Gonzalez (luciagonzalezalsc@gmail.com) and Jonda C. McNair (mcnair.7@osu.edu). Thank you!