Sharon McQueen's "The Story of ‘The Story of Ferdinand’’ wins the 2013 Dain Award

CHICAGO — The Library History Round Table is pleased to announce the winner of the 2013 Phyllis Dain Library History Award.

The 2013 recipient is Sharon McQueen for her dissertation entitled “The Story of ‘The Story of Ferdinand’: The Creation of a Cultural Icon.”

The dissertation, which the committee surmises may be near publication-ready, serves as a model for histories of similar publishing mass phenomena such as the Harry Potter books. She well serves the author and illustrator of "Ferdinand," Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, as de-mythologizer and biographer.

McQueen graduated from The School of Library and Information Studies of The University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is currently an honorary fellow. Her dissertation was chaired by Professor Emerita Dr. Louise S. Robbins.

The award committee lauds the depth of her research, her polished writing style, her original use of illustrations and the success with which she transforms an exacting book history into sociocultural history of the first order. 

The Award is named in honor of Phyllis Dain, a library historian widely known as a supportive advisor and mentor as well as a rigorous scholar and a thinker with great breadth of vision. Awarded every two years, the award is given for an outstanding dissertation that embodies original research on a significant topic relating to the history of books, libraries, librarianship or information science.

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 prizes such as the Phyllis Dain Award to promote excellence in library history research.

The 2013 Phyllis Dain Library History Award Committee:

Dr. James V. Carmichael, Jr., Professor, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC (Chair)

Dr. Barry Seaver, Librarian at Large, Durham North Carolina

Dr. Sterling J. Coleman, Jr., Cataloging/Reference Librarian, Brown Memorial Library, Central State University, Wilberforce, OH