I'm here today with Ellen Ruffin who is the curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature
Collection here at the university.
And she's going to tell us about pretty special event that's about to happen.
So what's new at the library?
Well, actually it's pretty old if you think about it, it's the Fay B. Kaigler Children's
Book Festival that is going to be right here at USM and we are about to welcome Jane Yolen,
who is winning the medallion that the university awards every year and has for the last 45
years.
Tell me the kinds of things that are going to happen at the festival, how many days?
Well, it is from the 11th of April through the 13th of April, three full days of children's
literature and it is exciting.
It begins with all kinds of breakout sessions, workshops, different things that are useful,
fun, scholarly, it's a real mix of events.
So, there'll be of course a ceremonial part where we give out the medallion, the big awards,
but then there'll be breakout sessions, what would that be about?
Well there are a variety of topics that are handled in the breakout sessions.
The first thing that I think of that comes to mind are graphic novels that's a big topic
for librarians right now so there will be some presentations on graphic novels, there
will be summer reading programs.
We have several public librarians who come, also this year is really significant at the
book festival because not only is Jane Yolen going to be the medallion recipient.
Our de Grummond lecturer, Margery Cuyler, who is a publisher with Marshall Cavendish
is going to be here to present our first experience with Ezra Jack Keats book awards, which I
know you're very familiar with.
Not only is this the 50th anniversary of this book, the snowy day, by Ezra Jack Keats, it
is the first full color illustration featuring an African American child as a protagonist.
And the de Grummond collection happens to have his entire literary estate.
So we're very excited and Deborah Pope, the Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation,
chose to move the new author and illustrator book awards to the de Grummond collection
to the university, so they have prior to this been presented at the New York Public Library.
But because we have the literary estate, Deborah thought it was a natural fit to bring the
book awards here so we will have the award winners with us.
The two women who are new writer and new illustrator and they will be presented with the awards
at a luncheon and we will have a top notch illustrator here for another session, Denise
Flemming.
We also will have a concert by Caroline Herring.
I can't even begin to think of everything that's going to be happening.
I'm looking forward to the festival too, now I know you're entirely too young to have been
here all 45 years of the festival, but surely you've read about it, how's it changed?
You know that's what's so interesting, and I have read about it, I've looked through
our own archives because the archive of the collection is fascinating.
Dr. de Grummond had written letters to authors and illustrators asking them to contribute
bits and pieces of their work to us to her little collection, and Dr. Warren Tracey was
the university librarian at the time and he saw the things coming in to Dr. de Grummond
and he said we've got to have a place, a way to show this.
So I guess between Dr. Tracey and Dr. de Grummond, they had a little book festival.
I don’t even know if they brought in big name authors and illustrators.
But within three years it was a big event, and it has continued to grow.
I can't tell you how many significant people have come to this book festival that is put
on every year by the school of library and information science.
Right here at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Absolutely.
Well, we're excited about the festival, we're certainly excited about the Ezra Jack Keats
award, things are happening here all the time and I know we're going to have another wonderful
event.
I believe we will.
I'm looking forward to it.
Thank you.
Ellen Ruffin, University Library, de Grummond collection.