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27th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture

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“Words as Witness, Words as Healing,” Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes speaks on Wednesday, June 7 at 5:00 pm / PT:  

Join award-winning writer Jewell Parker Rhodes on Wednesday, June 7, at 5 p.m. for the 27th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture.

In partnership with the San Francisco Public Library Main Children’s Center and the SFPL Racial Equity Committee, the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter invites you to join us to participate in the 27th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture.

This is a hybrid event; attendees may opt to attend in-person or online on Zoom.

We are thrilled to announce that for the first time since 2019, the Effie Lee Morris Lecture returns as an in-person event to the Koret Auditorium. Masking is strongly recommended. This event is for all ages.

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes
Photo credit: Jay Watson Photography

Dr. Rhodes’s topic is “Words as Witness, Words as Healing.” Her books for youth include Ghost Boys, where the long shadows of violence against Black kids and teens reach from the past into the present. Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Bayou Magic is about a young girl who learns to carry forward her family’s magical legacy. Paradise on Fire tells the story of a group of Black city kids who learn wilderness skills and how to survive in a perilous world. And Black Brother, Black Brother is about a Black kid who joins the fencing team, faces off against injustice and a bully, and makes a place for himself in a world that prefers his light-skinned brother. 

Dr. Rhodes is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award for Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Ninth Ward; a Walter Dean Myers Award for Ghost Boys; an American Book Award for her adult historical novel Douglass’ Women and numerous other honors. She lives in Seattle and serves as the founding artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Narrative Studies Professor and Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair at Arizona State University. She is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Carnegie-Mellon University. 

A leader in advocacy for women, people of color, and the disabled, Ms. Morris was Coordinator of Children and Youth Services for the San Francisco Public Library, having previously opened avenues for success for Black and visually impaired readers in Cleveland and New York Public Libraries.

In 1996, the WNBA-SF Chapter established the annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series to honor their founder.

To read more about this event, please visit here: https://sfpl.org/locations/main-library/childrens-center/effie-lee-morris-collection/effie-lee-morris-lecture-series

To learn more about this event’s featured author, Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes, please visit here: https://jewellparkerrhodes.com/children/meet-jewell/

February 25 – Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series: Jason Reynolds Speaks on “Transformation”

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Jason Reynolds, author of National Book Award finalist Ghost, the Newbery Honor Award-winning Long Way Down, and numerous other titles for middle grade and young adult readers, will appear in a special livestreamed SFPL lecture on Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 5 pm PST.

This 25th Effie Lee Morris Lecture is free for all ages.

Registration required. More information and registration here.

Reynolds also collaborated with historian Ibram X. Kendi on Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You, a 2020 youth version of Kendi’s definitive history of racist ideas, Stamped from the Beginning.

The winner of a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, an 2017 NAACP Image Award and multiple other honors, Reynolds spent 2020 serving as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, sharing his transformative journey as a writer – and a reader – with youth during a year of previously unimaginable transformation. Prepare for his creative exploration of the theme of “Transformation” – and prepare to be transformed.

This lecture series – produced in partnership among the SFPL Main Children’s Center, the SFPL African American Center, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the SF Human Rights Commission – is committed to highlighting the lived experiences of writers, readers and communities of color through the words and images produced by some of today’s most talented and engaging authors and illustrators of books for youth.

What: Effie Lee Morris Lecture series at SFPL presents Jason Reynolds

When: Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 5 pm PST.

Visit the SF Public Library page for more information: https://sfpl.org/locations/main-library/childrens-center/effie-lee-morris-collection/effie-lee-morris-lecture-series

Effie Lee Morris – A Woman Ahead of Her Time

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture series at SFPL honors the values embodied by Effie Lee Morris (1921 – 2009), the first SFPL coordinator of children’s services, the first Black president of the Public Library Association, and a co-founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.

Ms. Morris was a tireless champion of diversity, inclusivity, and the rights of all young people to read, learn and create. She initiated the first annual celebration of Black history for youth at the Cleveland Public Library, and at the New York Public Library was the first librarian whose work focused on the needs of children who were blind or visually impaired. At SFPL, she was especially noted for her commitment to personally visit underserved communities to get books into the hands of all our youth.

The 2019 Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series Celebrates Women Writers

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Join the San Francisco Public Library Main Children’s Center this fall as we present two lectures celebrating the voices of two gifted female authors and honoring the work of Effie Lee Morris (1921 – 2009), the first coordinator of children’s services at SFPL.

Ms. Morris, a tireless champion for diversity in children’s literature and in children’s lives, was the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a co-founder of the SF chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.

On Thursday, September 5, Renee Watson, the Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of the young adult novel Piecing Me Together, and of the new middle grade novel Some Places More Than Others, will deliver the 23rd Effie Lee Morris Lecture.

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019, F. Isabel Campoy, the International Latino Children’s Book Award-winning author of the picture book Maybe Something Beautiful, and the Spanish-language translator of Mo Willems’ “Elephant and Piggie” books, will deliver the 24th Effie Lee Morris Lecture.

Both lectures will start at 6 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium, and will be followed by book-signings with the authors. The events are free and open to the public of all ages.

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series is presented with the generous support of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the SF chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. This annual lecture honors the work of the late Effie Lee Morris by celebrating the work of writers and illustrators for children whose work exemplifies the causes she championed: inclusivity, diversity, and the rights of all children to read, learn, and create. Ms. Morris was the first coordinator of children’s services at SFPL, the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA).

About the Lecturers:
Renee Watson is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor award for her young adult novel Piecing Me Together. Her other acclaimed books include the picture books Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, and A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, about the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Her new book for middle grade readers, Some Places More than Others, will be published in September 2019.

Renee is also an activist and teacher who helps young people deal with personal and societal trauma. She has served as a writer in residence in schools and community centers nationwide. She launched the #LangstonsLegacyCampaign in 2016, purchasing poet Langston Hughes’ historic Harlem brownstone with the goal of developing it into a collective artists’ space. 

Renee Watson

Learn more about Renee here: http://www.reneewatson.net/about

In the second lecture in this year’s series, we will welcome author and educator F. Isabel Campoy on Wednesday, October 2.

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture series is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 415-557-4554 or see their website.

21st Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture

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Gary Soto, Effie Lee Morris LectureTuesday, September 26, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO MAIN LIBRARY
CIVIC CENTER • FREE ADMISSION
5:00 pm: Reception, Children’s Center Creative Center
6:00 – 8:00 pm: Lecture, Koret Auditorium, Lower Level
Join author, Gary Soto, Special Guest Lecturer who will speak on his body of work,
 “Too Much of a Good Thing: The Many Genres of Gary Soto”

The famed author will take a wide-ranging look at his multifaceted career as a writer of novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and essays for children, teens, and adults. Celebrate and honor the legacy of Gary Soto–learn firsthand of his journey as a Chicano writer!

To read more and register for this FREE event, click HERE!

At the reception and after the lecture, a selection of Soto’s books will be available for purchase and signing.

The Fresno native often writes from his Mexican-American heritage, and his characters reflect California’s – and the country’s – diversity. Mr. Soto is well-known for his books Taking Sides, The Pool Party, and Baseball in April and Other Stories, for tweens, The Afterlife, Buried Onions, and Living Up the Street, for teens; and Too Many Tamales, a picture book, and the Chato picture book series for younger readers. His forthcoming books include Meatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On (for adults) and a poetic homage to Shakespeare, The Spark and Fire of It.

He is the author of “Oranges,” the most anthologized poem in contemporary literature. It begins:

The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.

Soto’s over forty books have sold four million copies nationwide and have been translated into French, Japanese, Italian, Korean, and Spanish. The Gary Soto Literary Museum is located at Fresno City College. Soto is the recipient of an Andrew Carnegie Medal, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature, as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council.

Beginning in 1995 with Chato’s Kitchen (Chato y su cena), Soto released a series of children’s picture books in Spanish and English about a real, cool cat (gato), a low rider from the barrio of East Los Angeles, illustrated by Susan Guevara. Chato and the Party Animals (Chato y los amigos pachangueros) won the Pura Belpre Medal for best illustration in 2002. The series continued with Chato Goes Cruisin’ and Chato’s Day of Dead.

Soto was awarded a 2011 Creative Work Fund grant to develop a play with Marsh Youth Theater, “In and Out of Shadows,” that explored the lives of U.S. teenagers with undocumented immigration status. Soto collected teens’ stories and wrote a musical, “In and Out of Shadows” performed by the theater’s teen troupe in 2013 at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. A civil rights activist, Soto chose to create a play of dance and song to enliven the plight of undocumented youth.

Click here for a scene collage of “In and Out of Shadows.”

Each year, the Effie Lee Morris Lecture features a renowned author or illustrator of diversity discussing his or her work for young readers with the San Francisco community. The late Effie Lee Morris was SFPL’s first coordinator of children’s services, the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary.

This program is sponsored by the Main Library Children’s Center, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.

For more information, call (415) 557-4554.

20th Anniversary Effie Lee Morris Lecture

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Christian RobinsonTuesday, May 31, 2016
SAN FRANCISCO MAIN LIBRARY
CIVIC CENTER • FREE ADMISSION
5:00 pm: Reception, Children’s Center Creative Center
6:00 – 8:00 pm: Lecture, Koret Auditorium, Lower Level
Join illustrator, Christian Robinson, special guest lecturer who will speak on the theme:
“You Are Here: Finding Yourself in Picture Books”

Among his other awards, Mr. Robinson is the recipient of a 2016 Caldecott honor and a 2016 Coretta Scott King honor for his illustrations in Last Stop on Market Street (written by Matt de la Pena). He is also the artist behind the graphics for SFPL’s 2016 Summer Stride program.

San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association will sponsor a free raffle of Robinson’s picture books to be followed by book sales and signing sponsored by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

The 20th Anniversary of the Effie Lee Morris Lecture is a wonderful milestone for the San Francisco Chapter: Ms. Morris was our chapter’s founder in 1968. Past presidents of SF Chapter will join us to share memories of Ms. Morris’ legacy.

Effie Lee Morris, Our Founder The Story of the Effie Lee Morris Lecture 

Written by Mary Knippel, Past President of the SF Chapter

The SF Chapter of WNBA created the annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series lecture in 1996 to salute Ms. Morris for her outstanding contributions to the San Francisco Public Library and the children of San Francisco.

“The little lady who had the wisdom of the owls she loved to collect, as well as a heart full of love of books, and readers of all ages…”

Effie Lee Morris was a visionary, advocate, author, San Francisco civic leader, and honored as a Living Legend by the California Library Association. “I am proudest to have been a librarian,” she said, “a librarian who has made a difference.”

Work as a part-time library assistant in the Cleveland Public Library led to her first degree from Mather College in 1945 and a Master’s in Library Science in 1956. She was the first children’s specialist at the Library for the Blind in the New York Public Library. She was the first children’s librarian and first African American president of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association. She was the first Coordinator of Children’s Services in the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). In her long career, she became one of America’s leading advocates for services to children, minorities, and the visually impaired.

Ms. Morris’s awards were numerous, but she was particularly proud of the Silver Spur Award for Dedication to Enhancing the Quality of Life and Economic Vitality of San Francisco, and the Women’s National Book Association’s Award for Extraordinary Contribution to the World of Books.

The Children’s Historical and Research Collection was established in 1964 by Morris and officially renamed the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection of Children’s Literature in 1981. The collection was created as a research collection of out dated or out-of-print books deemed important to children’s literature and books containing ethnic stereotypes that are no longer acceptable in publishing, but which represent authentic literature of the era.

Our 20th anniversary speaker, Christian Robinson, is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Ms. Morris. Robinson spent many hours of his youth in the San Francisco Public Library inspired by books and encouraged by children’s librarians. Ms. Morris would be delighted.

Share the 20th Anniversary Effie Lee Morris Lecture with your colleagues. Download this gorgeous e-card invitation and send it out wide and far!
CLICK HERE FOR THE INVITATION!

 

Effie Lee Morris 18th Annual Lecture

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photo 5

Yuyi Morales

Tuesday, June 3, 2014  
San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center
 Free and open to the public!
Guest Lecturer: Yuyi Morales

This was a powerful community, literary event: Yuyi Morales at the San Francisco Public Library! After a packed reception in the Children’s Center, the mariachi band led us down the stairs and through the lobby to the auditorium for Yuyi’s talk. She held us spellbound for over an hour. We were barely able to raffle the free books that Women’s National Book Association: San Francisco Chapter provided, and have books signed, before the library closed for the night!

The Fisher Children’s Center, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the Women’s National Book Association/San Francisco Chapter presented special guest lecturer, Yuyi Morales, who will deliver the 18th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture in Children’s Literature, “Creating Children’s Books: An Immigrant’s Story.”

Author/illustrator Yuyi Morales has drawn on her Mexican-American heritage to create a wide variety of picture books. The winner of a 2014 Pura Belpré Award for Niño Wrestles the World, she divides her time between Mexico and California.

“When I came to the United States I did not have much here. I didn’t have the language. I didn’t have friends. I didn’t have a job anymore, which meant that I didn’t have people who listened to me or that validated my thoughts or any of that. I was very lonely.

But then, my mother-in-law brought me to this place that changed my life forever. She brought me to the public library. In the library, I found this island of peace and this world where I didn’t have to interact with anybody in order to know, and learn, and see, and love, because I was looking at these books—especially in the children’s section.”

As a Spanish-speaking immigrant and new mother who migrated to the U.S. from Mexico, Yuyi struggled with English and adapting to a new home. She found support in neighborhood libraries, where she and her son practiced English by reading children’s books. There she found her life passion writing and illustrating children’s stories, such as Just a Minute; A Trickster Tale and Counting Book; Little Night / Nochecita; Just in Case, and the 2013 Niño Wrestles the World. She is the first children’s book illustrator of Mexican descent to reach the New York Times Best Sellers List.

Each year, the Effie Lee Morris Lecture features a distinguished guest author or illustrator of children’s books discussing his or her work for the enjoyment of teachers, librarians, scholars, and the book-loving public. The event honors the work of the late Effie Lee Morris, SFPL’s first coordinator of children’s services and a founder of the SF Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.

Morales books

For more information, call 415-557-4277 or 415-557-4554.

*Funded by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Effie Lee Morris Lecture 2013

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013 –FREE event, Open to the Public
5:00 pm Reception and Book Signing: San Francisco Main Public Library, Lower Level Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room
6:00 pm Lecture: Lower Level, Koret Auditorium 

Eve Bunting, 
Award Winning Children’s Author of over 250 Books!

“Picture Books That Can’t Be Written: Social Issues in Children’s Literature” 

Smoky NightBorn in Ireland, Eve Bunting grew up in a tradition steeped in the art of storytelling and the magic of words. “There used to be Shanachies in the Ireland of long ago,” she says. “The Shanachie was the storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and faires, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanachie myself, telling my stories to anyone who’ll listen.”

 

In 1958 Eve Bunting moved to California with her husband and three children. It was there, several years later that she enrolled in Writing for Publication class at her local junior college. Filled with ideas and a strong desire to write, she was, nevertheless, uncertain of what to expect 

Finn McCoolSince the first book, a retelling of an old Irish folktale about the giant Finn McCool, Eve Bunting has carried on her homeland’s storytelling tradition in over a hundred books for children and young adults — books about everything from sharks and horses to football players. 

“I like to write for every child,” she says. “For every age, for every interest. That is why I have such a variety of books — from pre-school, through the middle grades and beyond. The young adult novels I write border on the true adult novel, but I enjoy keeping my protagonists in their upper teens where lives are new and filled with challenge, where nothing is impossible.

 

Eve Bunting

Eve Bunting

“One of my greatest joys is writing picture books. I have discovered the pleasures of telling a story of happiness or sorrow in a few simple words. 

Eve Bunting has received many awards, including the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in 1976 for One More Flight (Warne). In 1995 the Caldecott Medal was presented to David Diaz for his illustrations for her Smoky Night (Harcourt). 

This marks the 17th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture, presented by WNBA-SF Chapter in partnership with the Friends of the SFPL and the SFPL’s Main Children’s Center. There will be books for sale and book-signing before and after the lecture. WNBA-SF Chapter will provide FREE books in a raffle and for all those who have their picture taken with the author Eve Bunting and tweet about it! 

Come to the Reception for a delicious array of healthy food and to get your raffle ticket!

Jerry Pinkney’s Lecture: Visual Storytelling

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Jerry Pinkney Signing

John Henry by Julius Lester

Jerry Pinkney began his talk by telling about his own journey, first as a young boy in Philadelphia in German Town on a dead end street where African-Americans lived in one block of row houses. But for Pinkney that street led him to his career as an artist. It was there he learned the basic elements of his work: storytelling from his mother and his neighbors, respect for tools from his father, a man of all trades, and a love for music and song.

Pinkney read to us from the first book he initiated as his own project, John Henry by Julius Lester. He told how the iconic John Henry was an important hero to him as a boy. God Bless the Child was another key book project that incorporated music and a new landscape—that of the South in the Great Depression.

As Pinkney showed us his work in a brilliant slide show, we saw how he had progressed in creating new layers of reality. He began to use live models rather than photographs. He talked about “inhabiting” his characters; he talked about visual storytelling. As he spoke, we could understand how he had achieved the Caldecott Medal with his masterful, almost wordless telling of Lion and the Mouse.

Kate Farrell and Linda Lee with SF City Librarian, Luis Herrera

Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, was indeed privileged to be a small part of the wonderful 16th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture. It was a thrill to hold a drawing of Jerry Pinkney’s notable books as door prizes and see the joy on the faces of the winners.

For all of us who appreciate a gifted artist with great stories to tell, we are grateful to Jerry Pinkney, the San Francisco Public Library staff, and to the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

 

 

 

The Magic of Jerry Pinkney

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The Talking Eggs

As a children’s librarian, every time I read aloud the lavishly illustrated picture book, The Talking Eggs, my grade school students were captivated. The story is a classic tale (good and bad sisters) set in the back woods of Louisiana from the African American tradition. But how Jerry Pinkney worked his magic to bring the old story alive is what fascinated the children. They reached for the book over and over again, marveling at the brightly colored pictures.

How does Jerry Pinkney work his magic? Come behind the scenes with a master artist to discover his secrets. Join us at the library!

May 15, 2012 –Tuesday
5:00 pm Reception and Book Signing, Main, San Francisco Public Library: Lower Level Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room
6:00 pm Lecture: Koret Auditorium

Jerry Pinkney, Guest Lecturer  “A Sense of Place Real and Imagined”
The 16th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture

All Programs at the SF Library are free.
Drawing of Door Prizes: Jerry Pinkney collectible books at end of program—Must be present to win!
100 Larkin St. (at Grove)  (415) 557-4277   sfpl.org

Posted by Kate Farrell

 

Drawing of Jerry Pinkney Award-Winning Books

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Join us at the San Francisco Main Library May 15th at 5:00pm!
16th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series, Jerry Pinkney, Guest Speaker

WNBA-SF Chapter will sponsor a free drawing at end of the program of these notable books:


Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney – Newbery Award Book

John Henry by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney – Caldecott Honor Book

Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney – Caldecott Honor Book

Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney – Caldecott Honor Book

Jerry Pinkney is well known for his illustrated picture books and folktales. However his work includes illustrated novels for adults and children’s fiction. We are pleased to be able to offer some of his most notable books as door prizes. Free tickets will be given out during the reception at 5:00 pm in the Hispanic/Latino Meeting Room.

The San Francisco Chapter of WNBA was founded in 1968 by Effie Lee Morris, then coordinator of Children’s Services for the San Francisco Main Public Library. The annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series lecture was created to salute Ms. Morris for her outstanding contributions to the San Francisco Public Library and the children of San Francisco by the WNBA-SF in 1996.