MEDIA RELEASES
ContactJessica Mackinnon
jmack@dom.edu
(708) 524-6452
December 16, 2008
Dominican University Opens Butler Children’s Literature Center
Dominican University will dedicate the new Butler Children’s Literature Center on Saturday, January 10 with a private reception featuring renowned children’s author Jon Scieszka. The center, established within the university’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), is funded in part through the Butler Family Foundation.A partnership between the GSLIS, the School of Education and the Rebecca Crown Library, the center is dedicated to fostering a life-long love of reading. The center is in the process of building an historical collection of the best children’s and young adult literature published nationally and internationally, as well as examination copies of new books submitted by publishers, and additional titles selected as resources for teachers and librarians.
Future plans for the center include hosting a website of literature-based resources for librarians, teachers and parents, providing access to the International Children’s Digital Library, and serving as a permanent home for the prestigious Children’s Reading Round Table of Chicago.
“Given our focus on quality children’s literature and our mission to promote reading as educational as well as fun, we were convinced that Jon Scieszka would be an ideal person to help us dedicate our new center,” said Dr. Susan Roman, dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. “In his inimitable fashion, he has been encouraging children to read for over two decades.”
Recently appointed by the Library of Congress as the country’s first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jon Scieszka is the author of such acclaimed books as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs; The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1992; The Frog Prince Continued and Math Curse, which was named the Best Children’s Book by Publisher’s Weekly in 1995. A fervent literacy advocate, he is the founder of Guys Read, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging boys to read.
The Graduate School of Library and Information Science was established in 1930 and is one of the largest master’s degree programs in the country. The American Library Association-accredited school boasts four full-time faculty with expertise in children’s and young adults’ literature.
Jessica Mackinnon
Director of Public Information
jmack@dom.edu
(708)524-6289
Kristin Peterson
Public Relations Coordinator
kpeterson@dom.edu
(708)524-6452