Sunday, June 24, 2012

Charlemae Hill Rollins and the Chicago Public Library (Chicago, Illinois)

Charlemae Hill Rollins (1897-1979), the first African American to serve as president of the Children’s Services Division of the American Library Association (1957-1958), was an author and a noted children’s librarian at the Chicago Public Library.

Ms. Rollins, a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, was the daughter of Allen G. and Birdie Tucker Hill. She attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. Ms. Rollins worked as a school teacher before entering the field of librarianship. In 1918, she married Joseph Walter Rollins.

Ms. Rollins began her library career at the Harding Square Branch of the Chicago Public Library in 1927. She received her library science education at University of Chicago and at Simmons College. She later became the Children’s Department Head at the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library where Vivian Gordon Harsh was branch manager. Built in 1932, this branch was the first one located in an African American neighborhood. Ms. Rollins passed away in 1979.

*Note: The Children's Services Division of the American Library Association is now Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC).

*Update 6/05/2013:

Ms. Rollins was the first African American female to receive an honorary membership from the American Library Association. The award was given to her in 1972.

Sources: Rude, Dan. "ALSC Charlemae Rollins President's Program presents Think with Your Eyes!" ALAnews 31 May 2013:n. pag. Web. 3 June 2013. ; "Rollins, Charlemae." American Library Association Honorary Member Listing. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 5 June 2013.

See related post: Vivian Gordon Harsh and the Chicago Public Library.

Sources: Willet, Holly G. "We Build Together: Charlemae Rollins and African American Children's Literature." American Education History Journal 31.1 (2004): 51-57. Print. ; "Charlemae Rollins, 80, Noted Librarian, Dies." Jet 55.23 (1979): 53. Print. ; "Charlemae Hill Rollins, Noted Children's Librarian and Editor, Remembered in Chicago." Jet 91.6 (1996): 12-13. Print. ; "Rollins Foundation Set Up to Help Change Portrayal of Blacks in Literacy." Jet 81.3 (1991): 23. Print. ; "Society World." Jet 53.13 (1977): 36. Print. ; Lensinski, Jeanne M. "Charlemae Hill Rollins." Answers.com. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. ; Dawson, Alma. "Celebrating African American Librarians and Librarianship." Library Trends 49.1 (2000): 60. Print. ; Shaw, Spencer G. "Not Whay You Get, But What You Give." The Black Librarian in America. Ed. E.J. Josey. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1970. 153. Print. ; "Black History Prophets and Custodians: Handful of Men and Women Created Foundations of Saga of Persistence and Creativity." Ebony 50.4 (1995): 90. Print. ; Des Jardins, Julie. "Black Librarians and the Search for Women's Biography during the New Negro History Movement." OAH Magazine of History 20.1 (2006): 16. Print. ; Tolson, Nancy. "Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children's Literature." African American Review 32.1 (1998): 9-16. Print. ; Wright, Joyce. "Black Librarians as Creative Writers." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva DeLoach. 2nd. ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 656-657. Print. ; O'Connor, Sean. "The George Cleveland Hall Branch Library." Examiner.com. 23 May 2010. Web. 23 June 2012. ; "George Cleveland Hall Branch- Chicago Public Library." In Honor of: Libraries Named for African Americans. Ed. George L. Grant. Jonesboro: GrantHouse Publishers, 2011. 80. Print. ; "Charley May Hill [Charlemae]." United States Census, 1900. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. ; "Charlemae Rollins." United States Census, 1930. FamilySearch.org, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. ; "Charlemae Hill Rollins, 1897-1979." School Library Journal Mar. 1979: 78. Print. ; "Charlemae Hill Rollins Dies." American Libraries 10 (1979): 105. Print. ; Rude, Dan. "ALSC Charlemae Rollins President's Program presents Think with Your Eyes!" ALAnews 31 May 2013:n. pag. Web. 3 June 2013. ; "Rollins, Charlemae." American Library Association Honorary Member Listing. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 5 June 2013.

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