For immediate release | April 27, 2015
McQueen's essay on Ferdinand and gender nonconformity wins 2015 Winsor prize
CHICAGO — The Library History Round Table has awarded Sharon McQueen the 2015 Justin Winsor Prize. The award, $500 and a certificate, is presented annually to the author of an outstanding essay embodying original historical research on a significant subject of library history. The winning essay will be considered for publication in Information & Culture: A Journal of History. The award is named in honor of the distinguished 19th century librarian, historian and bibliographer who was also ALA's first president.
McQueen, an assistant professor in the Library Science Program in the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, received the award for her essay "The Feminization of Ferdinand: Perceptions of Gender Nonconformity in a Classic Children’s Picture Book." The award committee found this paper to be well-written, well-researched and engaging. McQueen did a very good job of placing the publication in a broad context and of demonstrating the book’s social and cultural influence. This essay will appeal to those interested in topics as wide ranging as histories of readership, children’s literature, LGBTQ issues and library collection development.
The Library History Round Table of the American Library Association exists to facilitate communication among scholars and students of library history, to support research in library history and to be active in issues, such as preservation, that concern library historians. The round table sponsors conferences, publishes a newsletter and presents awards such as the Justin Winsor Award to promote excellence in library history research.
More information on the Library History Round Table is available at the website http://www.ala.org/lhrt.
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