 Brenda Knight began her career at Harper Collins and went on to serve as the publisher of Clius Press and Viva Editions and in 2014 she was awarded Indie Fabs Publisher of the Year Award Brenda is currently with Mango Media And she is serving as the president of the Women's National Book Association San Francisco chapter Please Introduce Brenda Knight. Thank you everybody for coming and I love this intimate crowd. It feels like we're More friends of Ms. Morris here tonight along with these four And I will introduce each of the panelists later But just so you know who they are it's Andrea Brown, Mary Knipple, Michael Larson and Lynn Davidson The first I wanted to start off by talking about our founder Ms. Effie Lee Morris who founded the Women's National Book Association San Francisco chapter 50 years ago and this event kicks off a year of celebrating us being fabulous and 50 50 and feisty And I believe Ms. Effie Lee Morris was quite feisty herself She chose to be a librarian over a teacher and in doing so combined her personal passion for education and became one of America's leading advocates for services for children minorities and the visually impaired Born in Richmond, Virginia on April 20th 1921 Morris spent her youth in Cleveland, Ohio Where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Library Science degree and it's so perfect that we're here in the library And in 1956 from Western Reserve University She also got an additional degree So she began working in 1946 as the Cleveland Public Library and established the first Negro History Week celebrating children there, which was pretty amazing when you think about the time in 1955 as she moved to New York and became the children's branch librarian in the Bronx and three years later in 1958 she pioneered the development of library services for blind children She later served as president of the National Braille Club from 1961 to 1963 so pioneering I mean she was unstoppable in 1963 she joined the San Francisco Public Library Where we are tonight and she was the first children services coordinator We have another wonderful one with us tonight a year later she created of the Effie Lee Morris historical and research Collection for out-of-print children's books featuring titles that depict the changing portrayals of ethnic and minority groups during the 20th century and I had the honor of seeing that with the past president Kate Farrell under the generosity of Lynn Davidson and the Indonesian folklorist shelves alone were mesmerizing. I think of them often Active in the American Library Association Association the ALA since 1945 She chaired the social responsibilities round table and was an early supporter and chairman of the Coretta Scott King Award And from 1971 she's 1973 She was the first African-American president of the PLA Public Library Association In 2008 she was elected to honorary membership in the American Library Association the organization's highest Honor and she was given the honorary membership in recognition for her vision Advocacy and legacy to children services in public libraries and that was presented in her honor by Speaker of the House at the time Nancy Pelosi who was a big fan And so that's just actually a few of the things that you can say about the amazing Miss Evie Lee Morris And I want to actually hear from those who knew her and so we're going to start with Andrea Brown Who is going to have I think quite a lot to say? Andrea Brown is president of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, which is based in Northern, California with offices in LA San Diego, Chicago and New York She's a former editor from New York City former president of the San Francisco WNBA chapter Director of the Big Sur Children's Writing workshops and board member of the San Francisco Writers Conference and author of Writers and Artist Hideouts and we would love Andrea for you to share your memories of Miss Morris Thank You Brenda. Well first I want to say I'm just so delighted to be here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this Really wonderful important Association I was also a board member of WNBA New York chapter because I moved here in 1990 and so throughout the whole decade of the 80s I was a WNBA New York chapter member a board member and I was so excited when we started to expand to other cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville I think I yeah, I was there when we started was at the Dallas or what which Texas chapter Dallas Dallas and I remember thinking wow they even read books in Dallas. Wow, that's great Let's let's get a chapter going there. So yeah, I was one of those provincial New Yorkers really, you know I didn't think there was life west of the Hudson Until I moved west of the Hudson and found out not only is there a life but a much better life and how many creative intelligent bright Wonderful ideas you could find on West Coast writers and the writers conferences and the arts communities out here So I just became Totally enamored with the West Coast and I could work for the Chamber of Commerce within two weeks of working here I don't even like going back to New York anymore. So I just want to say a little bit also then certainly about Effie Lee Morris I was proud that while I was president of this chapter We did start this lecture series that we're celebrating tonight the Effie Lee Morris lecture series And as many of you know, we've had wonderful programs and top illustrators and authors come to speak and Children coming to to hear people and so many different things that I know she would have loved Effie Lee loved nothing more than putting good books into the hands of children everywhere and She I remembered because I she you know, I was one of the people in the chapter that was also in children's books So remember so many times just her talking about a new book. She discovered she'd asked me if I read it And I would like mostly say no Because I'm so busy reading all of our clients works that I didn't get a chance to read all the other books I mean thousands of books 50,000 books published a year I wished I could have read more of them Especially the ones Effie Lee told me about and she would discover wonderful new illustrators and we would talk about the new art and art styles and and so we had a lot in common and I think that She was always so the the thing I think I love most she was so elegant And she would always wear matching hats and suits and beautiful scarves And I so admired her style and her fashion flair And her grace and just her smile would light up the room I never heard Effie Lee raise her voice or Get excited about anything even when we have board meetings and we'd have disagreements about something in board meetings She was always the quiet one. I would get rowdy. I would yell at someone. I wouldn't yell I would go wait what about blah blah blah and she would just sit quietly and calm me down sometimes at the board meetings So the Effie Lee Morris programs that we have here. It just seemed like the perfect way to honor You know such an amazing and accomplished woman Her book collection here is unique and diverse I hope that some of you will be here to celebrate the 60th anniversary the 75th anniversary I hope we have many many more generations of anniversaries here to celebrate and You see if there's anything else I did want to say just basically that Her legacy I think is something that has transcended just the children's book world because I'll mention I remember mentioning her name to people all over and people knew of her and respected her and looked up to her and I just hope that future librarians know about her and Follow in her footsteps. So thank you all for coming if you're not a member of WNBA yet Please do join it is a really valuable and important women's association before the Me Too movement before women had a voice and I know in New York We were very excited to know about the fact that you know in a time when women weren't even allowed to join some of the men's publishing organizations, we existed for women out there and So I'm just so happy that we're celebrating 50th. I agree Thank you Andrea It is always amazing to me that the Women's National Book Association is 101 years old before women even had the right to vote This advocacy group was helping women get jobs as booksellers in Publishing as editors as writers as authors as speakers And so I feel like maybe that's what attracted Effie Lee Morris like from one pioneering champion to another and Next we have another past president of WNBA San Francisco chapter Which is Mary Knipple author speaker publisher and your writing mentor and she is fiercely Committed to guiding you to take pen and hand to help you tell and unleash your story That is worth so much worth writing Mary began journaling at the age of 11 and views writing as a powerful companion advisor and healing tool Marriage raising a family moving across the country twice and breast cancer twice Have given Mary plenty of journal material and the basis for her book the secret artist parts memoir and part self-help as it chronicles the pivotal role Creativity played in her recovery from breast cancer Mary's clients come to her when they're paralyzed about where to begin What to say and how to make sense of the life-changing message they know they are here to deliver She is someone who believes passionately in her clients and helps them polish their words until their message Sparkles and shines so Mary Knipple. I am I'm delighted to be here tonight to be able to champion Effie Lee's lecture series as well as her legacy I was fortunate enough to be on the board with Andrea when they The group came up with the idea of the lecture series and so I had just moved to California It was the second of our our moves and I literally got picked up and brought to the WNBA meetings because Andrea and the membership chair lived on the coast side And I didn't know my way around San Francisco But they brought me to the meetings and I got you meshed in the writing world as soon as they found out who you're a writer come with us and That nurturing I also found being a part of WNBA and ever the first time I met Effie Lee it was Just to be enveloped and welcomed as a fellow writer and lover of words and being able to bring my daughter to the lecture series was Such a treat and I felt so privileged to be able to expose her to the richness that the the lecture series offered us and as president of WNBA, I would receive Many phone calls from Effie Lee saying you are doing such a fabulous job and I would just swell with pride that she was on my side and Always there to support me She may not have have had children of her own But I felt like we were all her children that she nurtured everyone that she came in contact with and Saw the potential of what we could be and what we could do Andrea talked about her style and her quiet grace I remember when she came to one of the board meetings and She said I've got something to tell you She had won a contest in Paris for the hat that she was wearing and she was so proud of that and that was just typical because she always was dressed so nicely and When we celebrated our anniversary and had a grand Banquet and we bought Tiaras for the ladies board members to wear and she was so excited about that that Tierra that she went home with And it was No, something that we had bought at the the party store, but it was just festive and she liked that and I think that quiet grace was just part of her Whole vernacular and she just brought it wherever she was and I'm so admired that and I Was happy that I could be in that Structure with her and that she brought it to WNBA and any time that she was I was around her I Have to say that She's the reason why I got to be a speaker at a Baptist ceremony Because when I went to her send-off party They asked anybody who was there if they wanted to say a few words about Effie Lee and I was The first one in line. I jumped right up and I said I just have to say I loved this lady I'm growing up in a small town in Minnesota. I wasn't exposed to people of color and Being around her and How she just welcomed everyone and treated you all with such respect and dignity It was such a shining example for me And so I wanted to say that I celebrated her and I cherished the relationship that I had with her and being a Speaker and being able to get in touch with my emotions has been a Journey and I'm so happy that I can embrace that with you today Because she was somebody that really touched people and I'm so glad that we are here honoring her tonight Thank you, Mary. I love that. We're learning so much about Ms. Morris I mean, I knew she was a champion of underserved children and Disabled and visually impaired kids and I and then she was also a personal champion It sounds like to everyone she knew she touched each person she knew and I mean I never got to meet her but I feel like I have somehow been touched by the grace of Ms. Effie Lee Morris and Next we have a Michael Larson and I said we were 50 and fabulous and so I printed this out in such a small font Maybe a little more than 50 and fabulous Michael Larson co-founded Larson Pomada literary agencies in 1972 over four decades the agency sold Hundreds of books to more than a hundred publishers and imprints the agency has stopped accepting new authors But Michael loves helping all Writers and I can tell you he does He gives talks about writing and publishing he does author coaching He wrote how to write a book proposal and how to get a literary agent and co-authored guerrilla marketing for writers Mike is co-director of San Francisco writers conference and the San Francisco writing for change conference So without further ado Michael Larson The first chapter that I remember coming to Was to see the double-day editor Luther Nichols Wasn't long after Elizabeth and I started the agency Peggy Saracen had succeeded Effie Lee as president and the dinner meetings were held at Cafe du Nord on upper market Luther was a wonderful guy who loved sharing his wisdom with writers Here are three examples a short pencil is better than a long memory No good book is ever too long and no bad book is ever too short and Then there's the story about the woman who sent her novel to an editor and didn't hear back for a long time So finally she called the editor and asked about the novel and the editor couldn't recall it. So he asked well Was the mystery and she said no and he asked well Was it a romance and she said no Well, was it historical and she said well, it wasn't when I sent it Elizabeth met Effie Effie Lee before I did actually uncle Sam brought them together In a fleeting moment of enlightenment the government was giving libraries money to buy books and Elizabeth worked in library promotion which focused on children's books So meeting Effie Lee who was head of the children's books at the Brooklyn library and one of the most prominent people in the New York Library system was part of Elizabeth's job I think this makes me appreciate that uncle Sam was also the matchmaker for Elizabeth and me We met in 1968 over the oysters at a baker and tailor new books preview for librarians at the Pennsylvania Hotel on 7th Avenue across the street from Pennsylvania station Elizabeth was library promotion director at dial a small but hot house When E. L. Doctor was the editor-in-chief and the woman mailer and James Baldwin used to stop by At the time I was assistant advertising manager at William Morrow Effie Lee always took a passionate interest in the chapter and was on the board for as long as she was able. I Remember one excuse me one board meeting for which we met an Effie's Effie Lee's cozy apartment on Cleary Court She always had firm opinions and a remarkable presence for communicating them She never raised her voice as Andrea said, but she had a quiet authority that grew out of her knowledge experience and love for the chapter and a commanded respect She also had a sense of humor and a delightful smile Her comments and suggestions were always taken seriously She yearned for greater diversity in books than she would be thrilled at The fact that diversity in writing and publishing are finally flourishing Adele Harwitz a charter member of the chapter and Former executive editor William Morrow and a friend of ours for decades was president for two year to two two year terms Then Elizabeth was president for two terms She couldn't come so Brenda asked me to stand in for her because as Elizabeth's vice president I did the programs while Elizabeth was president as Andrea mentioned the WNB is a wonderful organization and it's needed more than ever it was probably maybe the first women's literary organization and After half a century the San Francisco chapter is a venerable part of the Bay Area's literary ecosystem. It's community of the book The WNBA is one of the many reasons why the Bay Area is America's second largest center for writing and publishing and the best place In the world to be a writer This chapter is part of Effie Lee's legacy and Bless with the kind of leadership you've heard represented on the panel The organization will continue to find new ways to serve Bay Area writers and sustain the spirit of community that unites us all It's an old New Yorker cartoon that Effie Lee would love it shows a man standing in a bookstore counter and behind the counter There's a woman looking up a thick reference book and she's saying well. I'm sorry sir, but the future of publishing is that a print? Well, thanks in part to Effie Lee and the WNBA books will continue to be an essential part of the Bay Area's culture many thanks Thank You Michael, and I'm gonna take a moment for shameless self-promotion Which is Pitcherama, which actually has agents from the Andrea Brown agency Mary Kinnipple is doing coaching and Michael Larson is taking pitches and being the font of knowledge that he is It's on March 31st at the women's building. We have more information back there at the champagne table So help yourself to a sparkling beverage, and we'd love to see you at Pitcherama I may be a font of knowledge, but I'm only ten point You know at the San Francisco writers conference Michael I saw a tiara I saw tiara is actually so I thought that was a good sign And next we have somebody who? Works here and contributes on a daily basis, and that is Lynn Davidson Who served as program manager of the San Francisco Public Library's main children's Center since 2011? She was previously the manager of the Children's Department of Orange County Library service system in Orlando, Florida second happiest place on earth maybe Lynn is also an award-winning journalist who spent eight years as managing editor of a weekly newspaper in Orlando She continues to work as a fleet freelance writer and editor There's also a poet who is working on a collection of poems that take place right here in San Francisco's tenderloin Neighborhood so welcome Lynn Davidson. Thank you Thank you so much to Brenda and the membership of the WNBA for inviting me. It is such an honor to be here with you I will preface everything that I say by letting you know that I just got over a really bad flu and so I've got my Handy cough drops my handy water, so I'm hoping that my voice will last I've been saving it up for you So I am the only person here on this panel. I think who got to know Effie Lee Morris after her death because I came to work here in 2011 that was two years after she had passed away and I was actually hired to In part Oversee the work of the collection named in her honor, which is the Effie Lee Morris Historical and research collection of children's literature right upstairs on the second floor that Brenda was alluding to earlier I'll more about the collection in a few minutes but The way that I met Ms. Morris or as I like to call her Effie Lee The way that I met Effie Lee was a little bit different. I met her The day I walked into the room that houses the Effie Lee Morris collection, which is a very quiet Room filled with nothing but bookshelves with about 10,000 books that she and we at the library have collected I walked into that room all by myself and I stood there and I felt her presence. I Had heard a little bit about her of course before my interview when I was hired here. I had studied a lot about her And so I knew that she was a tireless champion of literature for children that she was a fierce advocate for the necessity for diversity in children's literature and for inclusion for all children But I didn't have a sense of who she was so I walked into that room and I just said talk to me Effie Lee and What I felt was The legacy the spirit of someone who was a very well-defined very fierce Personality and who cared about children and I felt her asking me. What are you going to do for my kids? So I knew that my job was to make sure that I carried forward that legacy and did something for Effie Lee Morris's kids for all of our kids So that informs my work and that of my staff every day to this day I'll tell you three things that I know about Effie Lee one of them We've already discussed her love of fashion and beautiful clothing every story. I've ever heard about her every picture I've ever seen of her Gives me an image of her in a beautiful pink st. John suit Just a beautiful elegant woman with such a great sense of personal style and to me I think that came from her personal pride and who she was and what she had achieved and what she did and just her love of beauty in the world The second thing I will tell you about her is that I've heard off and on through the years working at SFPL What a really really fierce personality she was as in she was someone who was committed She from what I have heard had very high standards for children's literature and for the people who serve children and I think that may have annoyed people at one point or another throughout her career When I reflect on that though what I think is that if you were an African-American woman who was the first African-American president of the Public Library Association and The first coordinator of children's services here in San Francisco and a pioneer in so many of the other things That Effie Lee Morris did you'd be a little bit fierce yourself I think people who have struggled as as she did for recognition not only for herself professionally But for the needs of children who were not included for much of the time that she was working She needed to be a steely character She needed to be able to be strong and to present a very definite idea of herself and her work and For me, that's a very admirable quality for someone to develop The other thing I will tell you about her is another story I heard about her and it might refer to one incident it might refer to a combination of a number of incidents But I kept hearing about Effie Lee Morris that she was very well known for taking books to kids who really needed them Kids from neighborhoods that were rough That were filled with some degree of crime where people most people might have felt unsafe to go and That Effie Lee Morris would go into neighborhoods where many other people many other librarians would have been uncomfortable going and brought books and library services to kids in those neighborhoods and That when people in those neighborhoods challenged her Maybe people who were trying to deal drugs or people who were trying to prevent Good things from happening in those neighborhoods. She would stare them down So that is one of the things that I think about when I think about Effie Lee Morris and I think about the fact that when I stood in in the room that houses her collection I could feel her saying to me what are you doing for my kids? Are you willing to do what I did? Are you willing to stand up for the kids when nobody else will? So that's part of what informs my professional work to make sure that we my staff and I and SFPL are there for kids who are not necessarily still included in Society and for various reasons and in various ways And that we are there for all kids and all families to meet their needs as they exist in the real world Not as we might wish them to be to make sure that all kids have access to books and stories and The ability to think and dream and become anything they want to be So that's my knowledge of Effie Lee Morris I'm going to talk to you also about her legacy which still lives here at SFPL and It's my pleasure to be one of the people in charge of furthering that legacy one part of her legacy is the annual Effie Lee Morris lecture and I am so proud that our co-supporters and sponsors for that lecture are none other than the members of the WNBA Brenda and Kate Ferrell who is here in the audience and their membership have been incredibly generous over the years With their their support in their time and talents for this lecture The lecture honors the legacy of Effie Lee Morris in that every year we select one author or illustrator of Books for Children who speaks to a diverse and inclusive experience Some of our lecturers over the years included our very first lecturer Lawrence Yep, who is a Bay Area author They've also included Christian Robinson a couple of years ago who is another recent Bay Area author a young African-American illustrator Whose work still graces the library cards that you can get today here at SFPL other lecturers have included Jiji Morales the Mexican-American illustrator who wrote Ninho wrestles the world and other Picture books that draw on her own heritage Other lecturers have included Tommy de Paola who's famous for his Strega Nona books Robert de San Susi who is famous for his folklore and fairy tale books and an incredible Very diverse collection of other authors and illustrators through the years We are right now in the planning process for our 22nd annual Effie Lee Morris lecture named in her honor So I encourage you all to keep coming back to the library for information about those lectures I'll also call to your attention the fact that We now have on the second floor mezzanine an exhibit of works by Jerry Pinckney drawn from our Effie Lee Morris collection Mr. Pinckney was our 2012 Effie Lee Morris lecture He is an incredible illustrator who is known for his work of the African-American experience You are really missing something if you don't come upstairs at some point between now and the end of March and see this incredible exhibit with treasures from the Effie Lee Morris collection Illustrated and written by mr. Pinckney And curated by Elizabeth who is one of my librarians in the Children's Center who is also a tireless champion of the legacy of Ms. Morris So that's a little bit about the lecture. I'd also like to talk to you a little bit about the collection that bears Effie Lee Morris's name and In that room we have a number of books Some of them are San Francisco history books that are both fiction and nonfiction that depict the San Francisco Experience and culture as seen through children's books over time. We have old books like this one I pulled a representative selection for you. This one's called in old, California, and it came out. I believe in 1927 We've got some Very old illustrations. I'm not sure how far you can see from where you are But they're they're charming old illustrations and charming old text Including as many books did at the time some very sanitized portrayals of some of the more Violent and fraught periods of our state's history such as the creation and establishment of our missions and the History of our Native American peoples We also have San Francisco boy by Lois Lensky Which is a fictional portrayal of our own San Francisco heritage Lois Lensky was a well-known I would say depression era author of books for children We also have very recent award winners and Historically significant books including Angel Island by Russell Friedman who is an incredible contemporary author of books of history and biography for young people and this tells a very moving nonfiction story of the legacy of our own Angel Island and the Asian American people who passed through its doors and Mr. Friedman shows some incredibly moving pictures of the the words that the people wrote when they were in detention on Angel Island Just to see what they went through in their own words In that Effie Lee Morris collection. We also have childhood favorites for many people Lois Lensky again the little fire engine She created a whole series of little this and little that books of all different types just fun picture books and We also have a number of books that we call our changing portrayals collection and that's to me Maybe the most interesting part of the collection I often say that if you were doing a dissertation on the way children of various ethnicities were portrayed over time in Works of literature written for children you could go into the Effie Lee Morris historical room and do your entire thesis on The materials based in that room So we have many of our changing portrayals books or things that we wouldn't necessarily want to recommend for children any longer Things with titles like Little Black Sambo, which I'm sure most of you are familiar with a very stereotyped very negative view of Children of color written in days past, but we also have Changing portrayals we have the classic book The Snowy Day written by Ezra Jack Keats Who happened not to be African-American, but who wrote in the 60s and illustrated books with at the time groundbreaking empathy and understanding of the lives of African-American kids and then we have works written today Like Henry's freedom box About Henry box Brown who was one of the people who escaped from slavery on the Underground Railroad a beautiful historically themed picture book and we have so many other books that That really showcased the vibrancy I know that Effie Lee Morris would be so happy if she were here today because my colleagues and I often say this is a Golden age in children's publishing when we look at books of every description the diversity and The the fact that so many children of a rainbow of ethnicities and abilities and backgrounds or poor our portrayed not only in their historical context as as victims of slavery or or People overcoming struggles in the historical past but as vibrant living people with families and everyday lives That are so richly portrayed. We're really coming. I think as a Community as a publishing community as a Children's literature community to an awareness of the fact that this history belongs to all of us and that it is our job as librarians Teachers writers and publishers to really portray the full range of who our children are and The last book I'm going to show you is called someone special just like you it is Um written by Trisha Brown pictures are by Fran Ordeez and this was done I believe back in the 1980s and there's a bibliography sold that book Those are our coins. Thank you so much See this is amazing Yeah, and the person who compiled the bibliography for this book was none other than Effie Lee Morris because what this Thank you so much for getting this book into print because it portrays in beautiful black and white photographs what life is like for children with a whole different range of disabilities and It not only does that but it portrays children of all different ethnicities and so the thing I think that moves me about this book to which Ms. Morris contributed and about Books like this are that we are all One people we are all diverse We are all part of this story that she started helping us tell and that we are continuing to tell So every day when I think about her words to me in my mind when I first came and took my job What are you doing for my kids? I think all of us here including you in the audience are doing something for Effie Lee Morris's kids because we are opening our minds in our hearts more and more every day To the experiences of all of us and to incorporating those experiences as a normal part of our lives So thank you all for your support for the library and for Ms. Morris and for this event Thank you so much Lynn Feel like we got a mini tour and the special collection and I have a question for you I'm gonna start off with questions for the panel and then of course we'll open up to questions from all of you But when I visited on that day I had the sense that some of the books there especially in the the folklore and mythology Stacks that I became obsessed with they seem like in some cases They would be like the only remaining copy of that book in print like it really seemed like they were rare rare books In many cases. Is that true? I don't know if they meet the technical definition of rare because it isn't an archival collection So in fact there is the Arthur Rackham collection, which is a subset of the Effie Lee Morris collection one of our many subsets of that collection and that actually lives up on the sixth floor in our Book arts and SF history collection Some of the other very rare children's books live up there We do have books that would meet the broad popular definition of rare. I think we have books in that collection In my department going all the way back to the 1800s We have some that were published here in San Francisco Some of the folklore books don't necessarily tie in with San Francisco or worth changing portrayals But there is Brenda said they're so richly illustrated or so evocative of the many cultures that make up our world That they definitely bear inclusion in that collection So I don't know for sure that how many of them are the last copy in existence in a library But I think many of them Would be one of the few copies left of their type that might be publicly accessible And I do know that over the years that I've been here We've had a few researchers and Doctoral students library science doctoral students come and actually sit and use that collection I had one person come all the way from Florida Just to use our collection and she and her partner were just scanning and photocopying from that collection And she included works from that collection in her dissertation That's wonderful to hear. I'm so glad they're being archived a little bit all the time And so I'm gonna ask questions of the panel and I've learned from observing Michael Larson at the San Francisco writers conference and writers Conference for change to let go start on one side and then come down the other for this next question So we'll start with Andrea for this first question, which is um, do you know what miss Morris's? inspiration was for Dedicating her life to children helping children Well, if I did remember I forgot now, I think I remember talking about You know things like that with her 25 years ago I'm not sure. Do you remember you guys anything like what she why she Lend you know anything about that even I Don't remember. I just know she always loved books And so, you know, when you think about the time that she went to college and there weren't as many Opportunities as there are now. Maybe being a librarian was one of the ways she thought that she could Share her love of books and do something valuable within the book industry Not wanting to go to New York I think at one point she did say to me though that she was sort of sorry that she didn't spend some of her Younger years, you know in Manhattan, then maybe even book publishing. I think she would have liked to do that as well Mm-hmm. She would have she would have slayed Yeah, oh, she would have been wonderful. I'm wonderful. Absolutely. But do you remember anything else about that? Well, I got the impression that Being a librarian she affected change Rather than as a teacher she would have had to be in the system Whereas as a librarian She had more influence on what the children were reading Mm-hmm Michael any sense? Okay and then and I Actually spent a good bit of time in the last a month scouring the interwebs for good Biographies of her or bios even just for tonight and there wasn't that much information About her childhood and upbringing So I wondered if we could start with Lynn and then come back this way what you what you know of that if anything I actually know about the same issue having scoured the interwebs to try to piece together Information about her life. I do I may have read something about her actually working to integrate swimming pools at one point So I don't actually know where that comes from. I would love to know if someone would love to write a biography of her I would definitely want to read it Mm-hmm. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. One of the things that occurred to me when I was thinking about this is to the extent to which she was a pioneer professionally I mean, I wonder she was head of the children's section of the Brooklyn public library The New York public library system is the most important one in the country and they buy a lot of books So it's a really important market and for her to achieve that position. I don't know how many African-Americans Got to that level in the library system. I just don't know but I have to think she's really one of the early ones Yeah, I from what I know of the history of my profession. I think that would be a true statement. Yeah. Yeah, all right and then And What do we know about the brief New York time in the public library? Andrea, do you want to start with that? Before my time not before your time I Don't know anything about the New York part Okay, a mystery to be resolved by that that excellent biography that maybe somebody in this room will feel called to write Do you know if there is anybody that are there any children books inspired by Ms. Effie Lee Andrea that you know of If not yet, I think the time is soon Yeah, I'm sure there probably haven't been quite a few dedicated to her I bet Yeah, and if you go through the books in the Effie Lee Morris collection, you'll see that many of them are signed by The authors who passed through San Francisco people that she knew she was very good at at forging strong friendships with authors So there are personal dedications to her written by a number of the authors in their books in that collection In fact, I remember talking a lot about Going to the ALA, which is the American Library Association convention very often We meet there at the different ones in Chicago and other places and so she would always run into authors and they knew her So yeah, that's yeah, I've kind of believed there probably are some I just don't know what titles Hearing this conversation makes me appreciate that there's a significant loss in terms of Children's books that she never wrote a memoir Yeah, really that unique life. I think I said that to her once I think I said to her she should write her memoir and she left Now she had no interest in writing your memory so easy you can dictate it to a computer. You just dictate it Everything we know a life is a legacy Told her that more than once actually. Yeah, I Would imagine and this is me putting words in her mouth, but I would imagine she was so busy serving You know taking care of her kids that like she No time for it, you know, well, yeah, I mean if she wasn't working she was reading and Gentlemen with the laptop. I think you have information for us Okay, when you find it. Yes Wonderful. Oh That is a fabulous photo She loved Ashley Yeah And Ashley Brian actually designed an owl icon in a woodcut and she adopted that is housemen Yes Yes, it's not very robust Or the Wikipedia that I saw it looked like it had been cut off like halfway that somebody was editing it and Sort of stopped halfway There you go with crowdsourced information, right? Yes, Kate stepping stone Mm-hmm refuge One point the chapter was the teddy bear room It was in the courthouse How long did the teddy bear room go for Christmas we would take a collection of new and gently use books and we take over there and just leave in the room For the kids who were coming for whatever in the courthouse near here, right? Right for whatever reason Mm-hmm had to appear at the courthouse and they would have something that they could take away Or read at that time or have is their own? I Wish we could do that exact thing again I think we should probably figure that out but I will say that the Women's National Book Association San Francisco chapter is In talks with a company or a nonprofit called Kidango To do the same thing Unfortunately, the San Francisco courthouse is not one of their areas, but all the suburbs like oak. I mean oakland Berkeley South Bay San Jose I mean, it was sort of frustrating that it couldn't be San Francisco But maybe that's left for us to do it again figure that out project homeless connect Does give away books at their events that books all right nearby here, and they even collect children's books because Homeless children. Mm-hmm. I mean that's certainly one one possibility. They have a half a dozen events a year So children's book project children's book projects still collecting books and giving away more than a million books now you know this is apropos of Something but I met somebody at the San Francisco Writers Conference that was had been a homeless youth who had to escape Chicago where his mother unfortunately married a White supremacist and he had to run away from home to escape that to as he says escaped fascism and he got he got himself off the streets and got to himself to college and got a master's degree and It's now an academic shopping a memoir and a scholarly book So and he said that it was books that kept him going and that the Libraries kept him going and it was he wasn't using it to like to live and sleep and brush his teeth He was using it for the books So, you know, I just wanted to sort of say look what books can do for kids All of a sudden they're shopping their memoir at the San Francisco Writers Conference You bring up the importance of libraries because these kids weren't buying books, obviously right to find them in libraries or through schools Whatever, so mm-hmm. You just made me think of something too with that conversation because we have actually in my department Occasionally when we can we've gone out and taken brand new books that we get from publishers and Library overstock books and we've actually done neighborhood events where we've given away a lot of books and I will never forget what one lady said to me when we were I think we were on the corner of let's see Turk and hide right at the street and Right outside the playground and a lady came up and said if you were standing on the street corner here and gave away Children's books every day of the week you'd have a line going all the way down blocks and blocks Because it just shows you the hunger that people have for books and not only for themselves, but for their children Absolutely I have a question that I think Lynn you might know the best answer for but do you know what children's services Ms. Morris introduced at this library That was so far before I was here. I do not know exactly which children's services. I will imagine though San Francisco has always been a progressive city in terms of the the services that offers through the library My best guess is that she really broadened the reach and the inclusiveness That we had because I know that when I go to work I'm still working with the legacy that she left us, but specifics. I just don't have okay Again, we're really needing the there needs. Yes, Sylvia. Do you have any idea what year she wrote that? Yeah Sounds like a time capsule a fabulous time capsule Mm-hmm. I think you're right Thank you, Dr. Jean. Didn't you know Ms. Morris? Did you know her? I think you did We're all needing to learn more and we will yes gentlemen and laptop Linda Geislinger Yeah, she she is actually a past employee of the San Francisco Public Library who I think was our coordinator of children's services We certainly do thank you Yeah Absolutely What's that and we did Sylvia and at all we did actually feature that brochure on our flyer that we did for this event too But most of us have never seen it in the In the flesh in the paper in the ephemera. Yes. Oh Lost it. Okay. Can you get it back Michael? Michael doesn't know how to use a cell phone I'm sorry. I couldn't hear your question. Oh, yeah, Dave Eggers center 826 Valencia. Yeah Thank you for bringing that up. It's true 826 Valencia Actually, I think children and teens and tweens can be interns there bigger pardon Well, I think the children can be interns at the publishing house. I mean teens tweens and kids, which is pretty amazing I know one who did it and Decided publishing wasn't going to be her destiny, but what a way it would a good way to learn And were you wanting to add something Michael? Just that you know, I think it's tragic in a way that The people who have most of benefit from children reading which is to say publishers Haven't done everything they could to help get books into their hands. They're in fact, you know Creating readers out of children What could what could be bad about that, you know still funny and I don't know what they can do is no kind of simple I don't know what you mean. They do a lot. What do you mean? Well, you know Do you believe that publishers in general are doing all they can't get? Oh, yeah Scholastic and a lot of other publishers have all kinds of programs to give out Extra like, you know overruns and free books to all kinds of you know, underprivileged areas You know, we were talking about Lime of you down the block. So wouldn't be some way to meet the need of people who I mean kids who can buy books They don't need them but the kids who can't buy them I mean for kids to be without books who can't afford them It's there are still underserved communities everywhere There are a lot of things there are a lot of programs and companies do a lot Not actually even like things like Burger King or whatever sometimes do special premium things so that they do Certain also some of our authors have done projects where Burger King will take 100,000 of their books and do a little mini version to put inside the lunches, you know for kids Or I mean a lot of corporations do things like that as well That's wonderful to hear and more to be done all the time. I mean, there's always more you could do absolutely I mean, I will speak as um Somebody who came from a holler in West Virginia Family didn't have that much money and it was a first grade teacher and actually a school librarian That I noticed that I loved books, you know when I was there at the school I was just ravenously, you know rampaging through them And so she they called my mom and asked to like meet with her and said she needs books I mean, I probably wouldn't be here today even in San Francisco Or definitely not in the Women's National Book Association. It wasn't for a first grade teacher and a school librarian Um Now I'm gonna ask a question that sounds really Lame, but I actually don't know What what inspired Effie Lee Morris to found the WNBA San Francisco chapter and I know you three know So Andrea, do you want to start? New York requested it. Oh, okay And they knew she was the fire starter so Women's National Book Association New York said Effie Lee Morris, you're the one to make this happen. Well, we're so glad that she did. Oh, that's right. Yeah So Effie Lee Morris was part of the New York Women's National Book Association from her brief time or brief years I guess working there is the New York Public Library But also at the time, I mean, I think it was historically important and that I mean maybe California Writers Club That was started by Jack London. Mm-hmm had a branch. They didn't have all the branches They have now it's like 17 or something, but this is one of the first Group and it you know because of Effie Lee. There was more there are more librarians in the group initially Right actually was all librarians at first Yeah, now she had said that she one thing that did distress her was that as the years went on There were fewer and fewer members who were librarians It really evolved from Border-based initially and then became more and more. Yeah by the time I was president. It was like more than half were writers Direction, it's gone. I think it's probably two-thirds 101 Kate looks like you had something to add So what happened what saved the chapter I So much Women of diversity events these are two fundamental challenges that I think nonprofits Face I mean we've been involved with the organization for like, you know, 50 years now since it started just about And they have ups and downs depending on the leadership depending on finding leadership because one of the challenges is bringing people along finding people who Willing to participate and and join and work their way up through the ranks and I I think that may be to some degree a People may be victims of technology, you know, I'm one of my favorite paradox of technology is that the more time-saving devices We have the less time we have Someday we won't have to do anything, but we won't have the time to do it Do you also remember when we remember when we're also in trouble when we almost were disbanded We thought we would have this big lawsuit when the well in WNBA which was our acronym then they was the Women's National Basketball Association and They came along and we were furious Because we said they can't use WNBA We already have WNBA and we wrote to them their lawyers. We've got a lawyer. I remember we paid a lawyer who wrote this letter and They wrote back saying heck with you. Sorry. We're using it. We're bigger than you We have more high-paid lawyers than you and if you want to sue us fine But we can disband you we can make you go away and we really thought for a while that we were going to disappear The whole organization not just this chapter But for a while they were really worried in New York and other places that we would be forced to stop being able to use Women's National Book Association You know they now retweet us and and like what we're doing like different teams or whatever It's kind of amazing I Do the social media for us partially because I just like to to know you know I like to dish out the information even if I'm not a librarian and So I love to find things like the fact that like there's a women-only bookstore opening up that like Penguin is doing a women-only books pop up Like actually started this March and that like there's a new publisher I think in Portland those publishing books by women writers only so I like to scour the interwebs and Find pro women pro diversity, you know things that I think match, you know our mission of WNBA and Joyce Carroll Oh, it's retweeted us this week. I mean, it's pretty amazing But I think that it's interesting because I think in certain ways like I can see where there would have been that tension But now they're fans of ours I'm happy to hear that Mention that one chat challenge for non-profits in general is that they have been flow with the energy and creativity We've had some wonderful presidents over the years So finding new people is one job. The other thing is keeping the organization relevant like this picture Rama It's really responding to what people need so kind of kind of reinventing yourself as needed to meet the needs of writers or the literary community right and You know, we get contacted by people who want to know more about picture ramen Of course, like I will jump on the phone anytime to explain and one woman that I talked to yesterday actually is a Filipina who lives in way up northern California and She said this is very little known so I am to think I'm breaking news here to a certain extent but general MacArthur You know who is Regarded as like the savior of the Philippines Actually had a real issue that he liked underage Filipina girls And I don't mean to be disgusting It's just that this is the truth that she knows from growing up there And so she was telling me about her book and asking if she thought anyone would be interested and I said Sounds like it's MacArthur's me too moment. And yeah, I actually think there will be people that will be interested and so You know, she said it's this secret history that is not known outside of the Philippines And she thinks people need to know that he wasn't the great hero the savior that actually like there was this whole You know Hidden horror story. I didn't mean to bum everyone out. I'm just telling you some truth Yes, I was actually I mean, you know I was in my mind like going through exactly who she needed to Pitch it to to and gave her some specific editors and agents and publishers So I guess that would be you know, that's me as a publishing person an editor helping a fellow writer But definitely that's what I feel like our chapter does and I'm glad I'm glad to know our history I'm thanks for coming in and saving it I sort of feel like that Karmically, maybe it needed to be a librarian. It has mastery of information That could like go in and just sort of like take this messy thing and organize it and fix it, right? Absolutely, Dr. Jean You're here thank you very much if if libraries or churches does that mean Lynn Davidson as a priestess? A goddess the children's center priestess slash goddess I Guess I'm another chunk of truth that I'll spew out from the lectern is that I'm sure you guys are aware that Barnes & Noble is in upheaval but Barnes & Noble that ran out so many wonderful independent bookstores and and Now are hoist upon their own pitard But in any case while they've been cutting way back on their buys of books Libraries are rising up and taking their place. It's really fascinating Baker and Taylor and all those jobbers and Libraries and school libraries are buying more books than than ever. They I mean from what I can tell like in the last Three years. It's almost doubled And so I don't know what that means and would love any information that that you might have But I think it's a wonderful sign and Publishers love them because they're non-returnable book sales But also independence are doing Sales have been increasing over the last several years and new stores are opening Another good science part of this by local kind of Mm-hmm. That's that's all good and Northern California is the best collection of independent booksellers in the country Absolutely Yes Plus it's such a beautiful facility. I know that the San Francisco writers conference is doing Groovy events there seemingly all the time and we're doing a member writers Event, I think I was luring Louise Nair into that August August 8th. I'm not a hundred percent sure of that but my recollection is that it's an author's lunch on August 8th Okay, they also have a monthly third Friday of the month. They have a free monthly writers lunch No, you bring it's brown bag actually you bring a sandwich, but there's Monthly meetings for writers free and speaking of members authors books when you were given a ticket By the handsome gentleman back there that was your raffle tickets You might not want to run out the door because that's a signed member author book But I see that a generous situation just happened. So let let me know when you feel like you're Filled up with answers to your questions about the legacy of miss Effie Lee Morris and then we can give you some signed new books by member authors WNBA member authors One yes Please Yeah, she won the same award that women's National Book Award that we gave at Mm-hmm fellow West Virginia Yes No offense to any of the men here, but I think women will save the world There's no question What's wrong with the world could be Summarized by the imbalance between you and Yang mm-hmm One time I had up we went to the romance writers of America and the chapter met in Berkeley It was like a hundred women in the room. It was wonderful. It's very nurturing and it was just wonderful And I just I finally realized it was the reason was so wonderful. She was no man All that oxytocin the nurturing literally they protect and defend as opposed to like Compete and teardown women's National Book Association even though men are allowed to be members. Oh, absolutely we accept men and Lynn this is a question for you and maybe a question for both you and Andrea, but when I saw the Special collection and recognize that some of the books were in my opinion rare. I You know, I thought I wonder if any publishers like should be thinking of bringing these back like for example Heyday books, which I know is sort of a non-profit. I think not for profit And they like folklore and especially like California folklore and history So I wonder if anyone has tried to connect to those dots or if that's even an appropriate thought to have If they're out of copyright, that's fine. Well, actually, I was wondering whether and you should get Jennifer Mark Soloway You know here to check out the collection. She was gonna come tonight, but she's sick in general to see the collection to see The problem is that publishers are so Caught up with the newest things and the new front list and finding the next big thing that you know Isn't out there yet. Um, they just you know what most publishers have No respect for I think a lot of the older titles and out of print books that should definitely be back in print Yeah, I right when you talk to the publishers Yeah, we did that with our Daniel Pinkwater books they did that Yeah, it's very small they'll take somebody like pink water who's got the name and he's on heyday Book seems to me that they stand for something beyond like the you know, the mom of the moment They still are yes Yeah, just about children's books I mean, I completely agree that the the front list is uppermost in the publisher's mind What I noticed too is that a lot of children's books will go out of print after just a couple of years Especially random house. Yes, they annoy me to no end They'll put a book out of print in in six months nine months. He'll give a book No other publishers do that with children's books because as Lynn knows takes a while for children's books to Get some traction and build and most publishers will give a book a few years Not not if they could put them out of print Well, sometimes there are sometimes but they don't sell enough ebooks and kids books That's right children children don't read ebooks. I mean they So what just anecdotally from our experience? No, they like books They like because they're on the screen all day So when they want to read for fun, they like holding a book I'll tell you what happens when we get kids coming in the library and we say well arch are I Call it the book book. So the book book is not on the shelf right now Do you want me to put the ebook in your hands and get you connected with the ebook? And my estimation is nine out of ten kids will just say no I want to hold the book in my hand. They just don't relate to a book that way and I think ebooks definitely have their place everything that that we create as a publishing universe has its place and has its audience But I think the thing about Real physical books for children is that it's an entire sensory experience. It's not just abstract Books are things that you can smell and touch and for some of our littlest kids taste And Picture books saying the art, you know right in front of you Yeah, and holding the the item in your hand It's just a completely different sensory experience that I think we take away from kids to their detriment Well, but you know the you remember more When you see something in print than you do just seeing it on a screen. So there's a memory factor And also, you know ebooks are primarily a fictional medium particularly genre fiction. So there's that so Yes, did you write Adele thrillers? What do you mean if you leave collection? Yes, yes, someone has actually done that Yeah, yeah, so the Internet Archive has been doing that for a number of Rare and unusual children's books over the years and I actually did a project with the Effie Lee Morris historical collection to see Which of the books might need to be digitized and fortunately for us the Internet Archive other Libraries and institutions that hold a lot of our titles have already digitized them for us And so the one that we did identify was published right here in San Francisco on Van Ness Street. It's called Polly's Lion I do not recommend it for literary value But it's it is of historic value because it was published in San Francisco and deals with local themes And so we actually digitized that ourselves here and submitted it to the Internet Archive That's a great idea. Mm-hmm very nice Thank you Some of them are out of copyright. I'm sure there's several candidates that are eligible for that Any other questions? I have one last question before we go to the raffle raffle segment of the evening any other questions Well, here's my question to anyone that wants to answer it What do we think Effie Lee Morris would ask us to do in our 50th year as the WNBA or our 50th year as San Francisco citizens and and What do you think she would say do this focus on this? Yes, Dr. Jean. I agree wholeheartedly with her and you Make sure that every child in San Francisco wants to read a book as access to it. Yes Great Kate any thoughts they may we actually make our Library overstocks and and withdrawn library books available to non-profit groups in the community who want to schedule a time to come and Look at the collection and and take what they need How many groups such groups do you work with now? I don't do the direct working with the group so I don't know But I know that teachers and schools and non-profit organizations can make appointments and come in and whatever they need They can take that's a great idea good So the what they charge for rents here Well speaking of getting books out into the community who has ticket number five four two seven three six