Sayers, Frances Clarke, 1897-1989

Sayers was born on Sept. 4, 1897 in Topeka, KS; attended Univ. of TX and Carnegie Institute of Technology; asst. in children's room (1918-23) and superintendent of work with children (1941-52), New York Public Library; lecturer on children's literature, 1954-65, UCLA; won Joseph W. Lippincott Award for distinguished service in the profession of librarianship, 1965 and Clarence Day Award, 1966 for Summoned by books : essays and speeches (ed. by Marjeanne Blinn, 1965); other publications include Bluebonnets for Lucinda (1932), Mr. Tidy-Paws (1934), and Anne Carroll More : a biography (1972); she died on July 24, 1989 in Ojai, CA.

Sayers was born Sept. 4, 1897 in Topeka, KS; attended Univ. of TX and Carnegie Institute of Technology; asst. in children's room (1918-23) and superintendent of work with children (1941-52) at New York Public Library; lecturer on children's literature, 1954-65, UCLA; published works including books for children include Bluebonnets for Lucinda (1932), Sally Tait (1948), Ginny and Custard (1951), Summoned by books : essays and speeches (1965, edited by Marjeanne Blinn, and winner of the 1966 Clarence Day Award), Children from many lands illustrate Grimm's fairy tales (1967), Oscar Lincoln Busby Stokes (1970), and Anne Carroll More : a biography (1972); won the Joseph W. Lippencott Award for distinguished service in librarianship (1965), and the Southern California Children's Literature Award (1969); she died in 1989.

Biography

Sayers was born on September 4, 1897 in Topeka, Kansas; attended University of Texas and Carnegie Institute of Technology; assistant in children's room (1918-23) and superintendent of work with children (1941-52), New York Public Library; lecturer on children's literature, 1954-65, UCLA; won Joseph W. Lippincott Award for distinguished service in the profession of librarianship, 1965 and Clarence Day Award, 1966 for Summoned by Books: Essays and Speeches (edited by Marjeanne Blinn, 1965); other publications include Bluebonnets for Lucinda (1932), Mr. Tidy-Paws (1934), and Anne Carroll More: a Biography (1972); she died on July 24, 1989 in Ojai, California.

Expanded Biographical Narrative

Frances Clarke Sayers, noted children's librarian, author, teacher, storyteller and speaker, was an advocate of excellence in children's literature. 1 Born on September 4, 1897 in Topeka, Kansas, Sayers later stated that she knew she wanted to be a children's librarian from childhood. 2 After attending the University of Texas at Austin, she graduated from the Library School at Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1918, which was the first and, at that time, only library school specializing in work with children. 3

Sayers had a long career in both librarianship and academia. Between 1918 and 1925, she was a children's librarian at the New York and Los Angeles Public Libraries and a school librarian at University Elementary School, UCLA. In 1941, she replaced Anne Carroll Moore as superintendent of work with children. Between 1934 and 1965 she was a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Librarianship, the Pratt Institute, the University of Michigan Library School and English Department, the New School of Social Research, the English Department, UCLA. In 1960, she was invited to join the newly opened School of Library Service at UCLA by the founding dean, Lawrence Clark Powell. 4 She remained on the faculty until her retirement in 1965.

Sayers published a variety of materials including essays, speeches, poetry, articles, children's books, and a biography of Anne Carroll Moore. She received a number of awards over the course of her career, including the Joseph W. Lippincott Award (1965), the Clarence Day Award (1966), and the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal (1973). She died on July 24, 1989 in Ojai, California.

In 1993, the Department of Library and Information Science, UCLA, established a lecture series in Sayers honor.

Chronology 5

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