| Virginia Haviland | |
|---|---|
Virginia Haviland ca 1935 |
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| Born | 21 May 1911 Rochester, New York, USA |
| Died | 6 January 1988 (aged 76) Washington, DC, USA |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Author, Editor, Librarian |
| Employer | Library of Congress |
| Known for | Edited "Favorite Fairy Tales Around the World" series; Founded Children's Book Section at Library of Congress |
| Parents | Willis J. Haviland (father) Bertha M. Esten (mother) |
| Relatives | Co-founders of Haviland China (cousins) Willis Haviland Carrier (cousin) Willis Bradley Haviland (cousin) |
Virginia Haviland (May 21, 1911 – January 6, 1988) was an authority in children's literature and specialized in fairy tales.[1] She is best known for her Favorite Fairy Tales series, featuring 16 countries.
Born in Rochester, New York, to William J. Haviland and Bertha M. Esten, she grew up mainly in Massachusetts. During her childhood, she traveled abroad and spent time with two aunts who entertained international visitors in their home. The early influence of contact with international visitors may have influenced her adult interest in traveling and working with international colleagues.[2][3][4][5]
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Virginia Haviland held a BA in economics and mathematics from Cornell University (1933).
She became a children's librarian in 1934 for the Boston Public Library, under the tutelage of Alice Jordan, founder of children's services there. She was a branch librarian and children's librarian at Boston from 1948 to 1952, and a reader's advisor for children from 1952 to 1963. She studied folklore under Albert B. Lord at Hartford. In 1949 she gave the New England Library Association's Hewins Lecture for research in the history of children's literature about nineteenth-century travel books for children, and taught Library Service to Children and Reading Guidance for Children at Simmons College School of Library Science from 1957 to 1962 where there is now a Virginia Haviland Scholarship. She also reviewed for The Horn Book Magazine for about thirty years.[6]
She was the chair of the Children's Services Division of the American Library Association (ALA) from 1954 to 1955, and as such attended conferences of the International Board on Books for Children (now called the International Board on Books for Young People), the International Federation of Library Associations, and the Institutions Roundtable for Children's Literature Documentation Centers.[6]
She was also chair of the Newbery-Caldecott Award Committee of the ALA from 1953–1954, and held positions of authority in other national and international professional organizations, including positions on many committees and juries that selected outstanding children's books. Her "credo was 'The right book for the right child at the right time.' She had high standards by which to judge children's literature and also accepted newer forms." [2]
She judged the New York Herald Tribune Children's Spring Book Festival Awards from 1955 to 1957, as well as the International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Book World Children's Spring Book Festival Awards, and the National Book Awards (1969). She was instrumental in beginning the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award.[6]
In 1962 she was invited down to Washington D.C. to found the Center for Children's Literature at the Library of Congress. She became its first Head in 1963, and worked for the Library of Congress until her retirement in 1981.[6]
In the 1950s, Virginia Haviland was a pioneer in attempting to collect international fairy tales into a series of volumes that were more accessible to children. While still a Boston librarian, Haviland submitted a proposal for her Favorite Fairy Tales series to Little, Brown and Company, who accepted and published her books in hard cover ca 1959 - 1971. The books were republished in tradeback by Beech Tree in the mid-90's. To compile her series, Virginia Haviland traveled around the world meeting with librarians, authors, and authorities in fairy tales. The collection includes:
In 1985, Little, Brown and Company also published a single-volume sampling of her series called Favorite Fairy Tales Told Around the World.
Virginia Haviland was awarded the Regina Medal "for continuous distinguished contribution to children's literature" from the Catholic Library Association in 1976, and the Grolier Award for "unusual contributions to the stimulation and guidance of reading by children and young people" by the ALA that same year. The ALA would also give her an Honorary Life Membership in 1982 "for her many accomplishments on behalf of children and for those professionals who work with children in the United States and throughout the world ... the Association joins her colleagues who have bestowed upon her the rank of Ambassador for Children's Books."[2]
Her "interest and participation in the international arena was ahead of her time and gave the United States an established place in international children's library and literature organizations. She left a worthy legacy for children's literature at the Library of Congress at the culmination of her career." [2]
A list of her memberships:[6]
She died of a stroke on 6 Jan 1988.[1][3][5]
In a note to author C.S. Haviland (Virginia Haviland's 4th cousin once removed), fellow Regina Medal winning fantasy author Jane Yolen wrote: "She was funny, acerbic, brilliant, and did not suffer fools at all. She was also gracious, never condescending, and saw her calling (as a librarian) as one of the highest callings of all. Her knowledge of American and British children's literature—and folklore in particular—was encyclopedic. It's been years since she died, but I still think of her."[7][8]