USC announces literacy initiative, research center, and Augusta Baker chair
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By Peggy Binette, Media Relations
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University officials launched a $6 million campaign Sept. 29 to eliminate illiteracy across South Carolina through a three-pronged initiative that targets young children, adults, and teachers.
Called "Children, Libraries, and Literacy," the effort will tap into USC's research, training, and teaching mission and be spearheaded by the University's top-ranked School of Library and Information Science.
"As the state's flagship institution of higher learning, we not only have a vested interest in eradicating illiteracy in our state but also an obligation to the people of our state to give them access to programs and services that encourage a lifelong love of reading and learning," said USC President Andrew Sorensen.
The USC initiative is designed to enhance existing literacy programs, provide literacy research specific to South Carolina, and train teachers and daycare workers, parents and others. Initially, it will target children ages birth through third grade and their families. Specifically, the initiative will:
- create a statewide outreach program that will be called the S.C. Center for Children's Books and Literacy and establish a satellite center at the Child Development and Research Center at USC
- launch a ReadMobile, a traveling exhibition to critical areas in the state to encourage families to read and connect them with services at their local library
- fully endow USC's Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy.
Dan Barron, director of USC's School of Library and Information Science, said the key to winning the battle against illiteracy is encouraging reading early in life.
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| Dan Barron |
"A key in overcoming illiteracy is fostering a love for reading early on," Barron said. "Too often, reading is reduced to mechanics and rules, and if we aren't careful, we can stifle a child's curiosity and creativity. We must create situations where a child can experience the joy of reading and parents the joy of sharing that experience. Moreover, we want USC to be a catalyst that brings together people who are doing literacy work and to create a virtual literacy library to support them."
To carry out its plan, USC has raised more than half the funds needed to fund the Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy, $1.5 million of which was appropriated by the legislature in the most recent session.
The Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy, the only endowed chair in the state named for an African-American female, honors Baker, a pioneer in children's literacy. Once funds are raised, USC will appoint a scholar to conduct research that focuses on literacy and libraries in the state.
The virtual literacy library will be the S.C. Center for Children's Books and Literacy, which will be located in the S.C. State Library and managed by USC's School of Library and Information Science. It will become the state's clearinghouse for quality children's literature and will offer workshops, conferences, satellite classes, and other programming at libraries and daycare facilities around the state.
The ReadMobile will travel through the state to promote reading awareness for families with young children and encourage them to get library cards and become users of their local public libraries.
Barron said the involvement of public libraries is critical to the success of the initiative.
"The public library is the only learning institution available and accessible to all people from cradle to grave, and, fortunately, there's a public library in every county of our state," Barron said.
"Our vision is for USC's Children, Libraries, and Literacy Initiative to connect citizens with the resources at their local library, to connect the local library with statewide literacy programs, and to provide the research, training, and outreach to support their success."
9/05
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 Augusta Baker, 1911-1998
Librarian, storyteller, advocate
Augusta Baker made a difference in the lives of children by making a difference in the world of children's literature. Her extraordinary career spanned more than 50 years as storyteller, librarian, and authority on children's literature. The diversity in children's literature today is often credited to her hard work and influence.
Baker was born in Baltimore in 1911 to parents who were educators. They, along with Baker's storytelling grandmother, instilled a love for books in Baker early on. In 1934, she earned her library science degree from the State University of New York at Albany. Three years later, she began a 37-year career with the New York Public Library (NYPL) by taking a librarian position at its 135th Street Branch in Harlem. She perfected her storytelling skills there.
In 1958 Baker was named to the board of directors of the American Library Association's (ALA) Children's Services Division. In 1961 she became the first African-American library administrator when the NYPL named her coordinator of children's services.
At the NYPL, Baker founded the James Weldon John Memorial Collection of children's books and published the first edition of the bibliography, "Books about Negro Life for Children." She also received the E.P. Dutton-John Macrae Award for advanced study in library work with young people in 1953.
She served as the ALA's chair of the Newbery/Caldecott Awards Committee and was awarded the ALA's Grolier Foundation Award in 1968 for her outstanding work with children. She tirelessly promoted children's literature through radio, television, lectures, and workshops and served as a consultant to PBS's Sesame Street. She influenced countless children's authors and illustrators, including Ezra Jack Keats, Maurice Sendak, John Steptoe, Lee Bennet Hopkins, and Madeleine L'Engle.
Baker retired from the NYPL in 1974 and relocated to South Carolina. In 1980, USC named her as its Storyteller-in- Residence, the first such position at any university. In Baker's honor, USC's School of Library and Information Science, in conjunction with the Richland County Public Library, established the annual Augusta Baker's Dozen Storytelling Festival, which continues today.
She retired from USC in 1994 and died four years later at age 87. A year before her death, Baker's son, James H. Baker III, along with the Baker family, donated more than 1,600 children's books and Baker's personal papers to USC's Thomas Cooper Library. The Augusta Baker Collection of African-American Children's Literature and Folklore illustrates Baker's pivotal role in the field of the children's literature.
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