Ziarnik (MS '96) receives 2014 Bechtel Fellowship

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Special Collections and Bechtel Fellowship Committee have awarded the 2014 Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship to Natalie Ziarnik.

The Bechtel Fellowship is designed to allow qualified children’s librarians to spend a total of four weeks or more reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, a part of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The Baldwin Library contains a special collection of 85,000 volumes of children’s literature published mostly before 1950. The fellowship is endowed in memory of Louise Seaman Bechtel and Ruth M. Baldwin and provides a stipend of $4,000.

Natalie Ziarnik is the head of the Children’s Department at the Ela Area Public Library District in Lake Zurich, Illinois. She will conduct comparative studies of books published for children featuring science related themes, noting how texts change as new information becomes available and how accuracy and thoroughness are balanced with appeal to readers.

“The committee was impressed with Ms. Ziarnik’s timely topic and the thoughtfulness put in to the research methods and questions she will be examining, as well as her plans for sharing her research with school and public libraries,” said Jeanne Lamb, chair of the Special Collections and Bechtel Fellowship Committee.

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s website at www.ala.org/alsc.

The 2014 ALSC Special Collections and Bechtel Fellowship Committee includes: Jeanne Lamb, chair, New York Public Library; Connie J. Champlin, Children’s Literature consultant, Cape Cod, Mass.; Alpha Selene DeLap, St. Thomas School, Medina, Wash.; Mary Beth Dunhouse, Children’s Literature consultant, Boston; Jennifer Estepp, Queens (N.Y.) Library; Elisa Gall, Latin School of Chicago; Lucinda Whitehurst, St. Christopher’s Lower School, Richmond, Va.; Krissy Wick, Madison (Wis.) Public Library.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Santos honored by Illinois State Comptroller

Professor and Dean Eunice E. Santos was named a 2024 Women's History Month Honoree by the Illinois Office of Comptroller. She was recognized at a ceremony hosted by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza on March 21 in Springfield. At the Women's History Month celebration, Santos and three other women trailblazers were honored for their achievements and contributions to the community.

Eunice Santos

Book co-edited by Dahlen recognized by ChLA

A book edited by Associate Professor Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, associate professor in the University of Michigan's Marsal Family School of Education, has received the Children's Literature Association (ChLA) Edited Book Award. The annual award recognizes the contributions of an outstanding edited collection of essays to children's literature history, scholarship, and criticism. 

Sarah Park Dahlen

Campus-community partnership launches new maker-in-residence program

A new program co-led by the Champaign-Urbana Community (CUC) Fab Lab aims to bridge and enhance the creative capabilities of local maker communities. The Champaign County Community (CCC) Maker-in-Residence Program was recently awarded a $29,293 grant through the Campus-Community Compact to Accelerate Social Justice initiative in the Office of Public Engagement.

Cu Community Fab Lab

Knox named to IJIDI editorial board

Associate Professor Emily Knox has been invited to join the editorial board of The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI). The quarterly, open-access online journal is sponsored by East Carolina University and the University of Toronto and hosted on the servers of the University of Toronto Library.

Emily Knox