Digital exhibit celebrates 75 years of the CCB

In celebration of its 75th anniversary, the Center for Children's Books (CCB) has published a digital exhibit highlighting defining moments from its past.

"The history of the Center for Children's Books provides an excellent window into the history and evaluation of U.S. children's books more broadly—and for a period when both the quality and quantity of youth literature published increased tremendously," said CCB Director and Professor Sara L. Schwebel, who worked with a team of graduate assistants to design and publish the multimedia site.

CCB 75th anniversary digital exhibit

MS/LIS student and CCB graduate assistant Josh Altshuler implemented the year-long project, which involved several other graduate assistants, all working remotely during the pandemic. After completing extensive research, the students worked together to organize the content into interactive timelines, create a multimedia gallery, and write biographic profiles of leaders of the CCB and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

According to Altshuler, the exhibit incorporates the sources of several university archives, including the Photographic Archive and Campus Publications at the University of Chicago, where the CCB began before it transitioned to the iSchool at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Other sources consulted for the project included the American Library Association Archives, Champaign County Historical Archives, and the Betsy Hearne Papers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Archives, which provided a historical context for The Bulletin and the work of its early editors. 

"One of the highlights of studying the Betsy Hearne Papers was reviewing the memos produced by the Center between 1945-47 for the faculty at the University of Chicago and instructors at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools," said Altshuler. "The popularity of these memos—children's book lists with brief descriptions that were divided into themes based on subject and child development stages—led to the creation of a more widely-circulated Bulletin."

Among the interesting discoveries Altshuler made while completing the research was that the CCB consulted on a project with the United States Education Commission in 1946 to compile a list of children's books to be sent to occupied Japan following World War II. 

MS/LIS student Helen Salkeld, who joined the project in January, worked on the multimedia gallery, scanning the CCB's files for pictures and posters from past events. As a Leep (online) student, she especially enjoyed collaborating and catching up with team members during Zoom meetings.

"It's been great to work with coworkers from such varied educational backgrounds and come together to keep the CCB going," she said. "Working at the CCB and celebrating its 75th anniversary was one of the bright spots for me during the pandemic that I will never forget."

Altshuler and Salkeld consulted with former directors of the CCB, editors of The Bulletin, and CCB graduate assistants as part of their research. They expressed their gratitude, in particular, to Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne, Associate Professor Kate McDowell, and Bulletin editor Deborah Stevenson for their assistance with the project.

"Over the past year, I've learned of the Center's long dedication to service and education. The impact of the Center and The Bulletin extends far beyond what we could capture in the virtual exhibit," said Altshuler. "I'm proud of the tireless work of previous editors, graduate assistants, and book reviewers, and I look forward to continuing to support the Center's mission as it approaches future projects and opportunities."

"We hope the site will be of interest to alums, and we know that the history presented will be useful for researchers," said Schwebel.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Ocepek and Sanfilippo co-edit book on misinformation

Assistant Professor Melissa Ocepek and Assistant Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo have co-edited a new book, Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons, which was recently published by Cambridge University Press. An open access edition of the book is available, thanks to support from the Governing Knowledge Commons Research Coordination Network (NSF 2017495). The new book explores the socio-technical realities of misinformation in a variety of online and offline everyday environments. 

Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons book

Townsend to support iSchool administration

Angelica Townsend joined the iSchool on March 17 as an office administrator. She will serve as the primary administrative support for the interim executive associate dean and the assistant dean for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

Angelica Townsend

Ochs and Fiedler featured in "Can’t Shelve This" podcast

School Librarian Licensure Coordinator Lauren Ochs and recent graduate Hannah Fiedler (MSLIS '24) are featured in episode six of "Can’t Shelve This," a podcast produced by Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) in collaboration with Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS). 

Lauren Ochs

Faculty receive support for AI-related projects from new pilot program

Associate Professor Yun Huang, Assistant Professor Jiaqi Ma, and Assistant Professor Haohan Wang have received computing resources from the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a two-year pilot program led by the National Science Foundation in partnership with other federal agencies and nongovernmental partners. The goal of the pilot is to support AI-related research with particular emphasis on societal challenges. Last month, awardees presented their research at the NAIRR Pilot Annual Meeting.