Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton | lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830
October 5, 2012 Christiana Kapsner | UMD Public Relations Associate | 218 726-8830 | ckapsner@d.umn.edu
Jean Stevenson | Associate professor | 218 726-7451 | jsteven1@d.umn.edu
Commemorating a Legend
The annual Kerlan award ceremony
Jean Stevenson, an associate professor with the UMD Department of Education, prepared the Kerlan Chapbook for the 100th birthday celebration for Dr. Irvin Kerlan, founder of the University of Minnesota Kerlan Collection. Stevenson presented the compilation at a ceremony on September 18, at the Elmer L. Andersen Library.
"I compiled and edited a collection of letters which had been published by the University of Minnesota Libraries in a 'coffee table book' format," said Stevenson.
Since 1975, the Kerlan award is given to a donor who has made significant donations to the collection. Nancy Carlson (this year's recipient) and Stevenson were the presenters at the event. The award is received on Dr. Kerlan's birthday and is "in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."
The Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota is one of the world's great children's literature research collections. The collection presently contains more than 100,000 children's books as well as original manuscripts, artwork, galleys, and color proofs for more than 12,000 children's books with thousands of the books inscribed by the author or illustrator. The collection includes books that are significant in the history of children's literature, award books, classics, and representative books from Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and others.
A few of the previous 50 recipients for this prestigious award are Wanda Gág (1977); Margaret Wise Brown and her editors and illustrators (1984); Madeleine L'Engle (1990); and Lois Lowry (2004).
UMD News Releases