From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 15:02:10 -0600

Professor Anne Lundin of the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies has asked me to post this message relating to our discussion of women's history and children's literature. (Due to technical difficulties, she is unable to post herself). Megan

 From Anne Lundin:


I wish to add that American children's literature in the 20th century
 was very much shaped by American children's librarians, a significant part of women's history. From the 1880s on, with Caroline Hewins' guide to the best books to Anne Carroll Moore's holiday lists, children's librarians were instrumental in shaping the books offered
 by the publishers. In a fledgling field of publishing (and a nascent
 field of librarianship), both groups found cultural validation by being part of Literature (with a capital "L") and part of the Reform
 movement of their times. Children's literature is by and large women's writing, and children's librarianship--a hardy female clan-can be viewed as an "author" of children's books.

 Anne Lundin
 University of Wisconsin-Madison
Received on Wed 17 Nov 2004 03:02:10 PM CST