Frances Lander Spain
Encyclopedia
Dr. Frances Lander Spain (March 15, 1903 – January 20, 1999) was a children's librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

 and an instructor of school library services. In 1960, she became the first children's librarian to ever hold the position of President of the American Library Association (ALA). Spain was named one of the library’s “100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century.”

Biography

Spain’s grandfather, Samuel Lander, was a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 minister and founder of Lander University
Lander University
Lander University is a public university located in Greenwood, South Carolina. It is the state's smallest publicly-funded baccalaureate institution.-History:...

 in Williamston, South Carolina
Williamston, South Carolina
Williamston is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States, The population was 3,791 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Williamston is located at ....

. Her parents, Malcolm McPherson Lander and Rose Olivia Dantzler, met at Lander College while her mother was a student. Spain’s father later became a railway postal worker in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, and that is where he and Olivia started their family. Born Frances Lander, she was the oldest of three children, but both of her younger siblings died early in childhood. She held her first job as a page for the Jacksonville Public Library
Jacksonville Public Library (Florida)
The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville, Florida. It primarily serves Jacksonville and Duval County, and is also used by the neighboring Baker, Nassau, Clay, and St. Johns Counties. It is one of the largest library systems in the Florida, with a collection of...

 while still in high school. After graduating high school, Spain went to Winthrop College
Winthrop University
Winthrop University is a public, four-year liberal arts university in Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA. In 2006-07, Winthrop University had an enrollment of 6,292 students. The University has been recognized as South Carolina's top-rated university according to evaluations conducted by the South...

 in South Carolina and graduated in 1925 with degree in physical education. The fall of that same year, she married a banker, Donald Spain. The couple had two children, Barbara and Don. Don died of pneumonia in 1932 at the age of 2 and her husband died of the same illness in 1934.

Early career

After the death of her husband and son, Spain needed to provide for her daughter and so, went back to school. In 1935, Spain went to Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 in Atlanta to work on a B.A. in Library Science. Upon graduation in 1936, she was offered a faculty position at Winthrop College in their new library science department. After receiving a scholarship in 1941, Spain to a break from teaching and went to the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 to earn both her Master’s and Doctorate in Library Science. Spain returned to Winthrop College as the librarian director in 1945 and between then and 1948, both instructed classes and worked her way up the South Carolina Library Association (SCLA). Spain started as the chair of the school library section of the SCLA and gradually moved up as vice-president and eventually became president in 1947. During her time in the SCLA, Spain revised the constitution to include not only public libraries, but also university, school, and special libraries. She also developed school library standards for the state of South Carolina. Spain left South Carolina in 1948 when she received an offer from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. She became the Assistant Director of the Library School and taught courses in children’s literature.

Chulalongkorn University

In 1951, Spain received a Fulbright grant
Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...

 and traveled to Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...

 in Thailand. Thailand had very little by way of organized libraries and while she was there, Spain helped create a one year degree in library science at the university. Spain also tried to create a more formal library system in all of Thailand. She established various committees and groups that eventually organized to become the Thailand Library Association in 1954. Though she had to leave at the end of the grant in 1952, her work was continued by Margaret Rufsvold, Margaret Griffin, Mildred Lowell, and Lois Stockman. Spain later returned in 1964 to review and continue the progress her colleagues had made. It was during this time that a Master's program was created, expanding upon the flourishing Bachelor's program.

New York Public Library

When Spain returned to the U.S. in 1952, she went back to the University of Southern California to continue teaching. One year after returning from Thailand, Spain was offered the Head of Children’s Services at the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

 (NYPL). During her eight years at NYPL, Spain followed in the tradition of her predecessors and became the editor of the “Books for Young People,” an article in the Saturday Review Magazine. She also published two revered collections of work on children’s services, “Reading Without Boundaries,” and “The Contents of the Basket.” The New York Public Library attributes their 50% circulation increase in children's books to Spain's dedication. It was during this time that Spain became the foremost authority on children’s library services.

American Library Association

In 1960, Spain became the first children’s librarian to ever become president of the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

 (ALA). Most notable during her two years as ALA president was her refusal to give a nomination for the head of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

. The request was made by the current president, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

, Jr. Spain was quoted as saying, “The Librarian of Congress should be a librarian!” In 1961, Spain was also honored as the Outstanding Woman of the Year in Library Science by “Who’s Who in America.”

Retirement

In 1961, Spain retired from both the NYPL and the ALA. After a brief visit to the USSR as part of the American Exchange Mission of Librarians, she moved to Marion County, Florida, to live on land her grandfather had left her and very quickly became bored with the retired lifestyle. She learned of an opening at the Central Florida Junior College
Central Florida Community College
College of Central Florida, formerly known as Central Florida Community College, is a public state college in Ocala, Florida. The College of Central Florida is a member institution of the Florida College System....

and took over as their librarian. Over the years, Spain continued as a guest lecturer at multiple colleges and universities and in 1981 was not only awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Lander College, but also received the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award for distinguished alumna from Winthrop University.

Publications

This is an abbreviated list of publications by Dr. Spain. Some are well known works, while others are compiled from another bibliography.
  • 1940 - School Library Standards. Thesis, M.A. University of Chicago. (Special Collections at Winthrop University Library)
  • 1947 - Libraries of South Carolina: Their origins and early history, 1700-1830. Library Quarterly, 17: 28-42. (Summary of Doctoral Thesis)
  • 1952 - Some Notes on Libraries in Thailand. Library Quarterly, 22: 252-62.
  • 1952 - Teaching Library Science in Thailand. Wilson Library Bulletin, 27: 314-17.
  • 1956 - Reading Without Boundaries: essays presented to Anne Carroll Moore on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of library service to children at the New York Public Library. (ed.) New York, N.Y.: New York Public Library.
  • 1957 - Helping the Child to Read. Saturday Review, 40: 63-64.
  • 1960 - The Contents of the Basket: and other papers on children's books and reading. New York, N.Y.: New York Public Library.
  • 1960 - Upon the Shining Mountains. ALA Bulletin, 54: 599-602. (ALA Presidential Inaugural Address)
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