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Spencer G. Shaw Endowed Lecture Series

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  3. Spencer G. Shaw Lecture

Each year, the University of Washington Information School hosts a lecture established in Spencer Shaw's honor. This lecture takes place every October and features a leading figure in children's literature, who will speak to library students, teachers, librarians, alumni, community members, and more.

Famed authors and illustrators such as Tom Feelings, Maurice Sendak, Ashley Bryan, Margaret Mahy, Gary Soto, Laurence Yep, Theodore Taylor, Susan Cooper, Katherine Paterson, Milton Meltzer, Jerry Pinkney and Jason Reynolds have participated. 

This lecture series is endowed to honor Spencer Shaw in perpetuity to continue to attract the best authors and illustrators in the field to lecture at the University of Washington.

2024 Lecturer

Christian Robinson

Christian RobinsonChristian Robinson is an illustrator, author, animator, and designer based in Oakland, California. He was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a small one-bedroom apartment with his brother, two cousins, aunt and grandmother. Drawing became a way to make space for himself and to create the kind of world he wanted to see. He studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts and would later work with the Sesame Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios before becoming an illustrator of books for children. The Christian Robinson for Target collection, released in August 2021, includes more than 70 items across home and apparel for kids and baby. His books include the #1 New York Times bestseller Last Stop on Market Street, written by Matt de la Peña, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, and the Newbery Medal, and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Bench, written by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. His solo projects include Another, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2019, and the New York Times bestseller You Matter. His latest collaboration with Matt de la Peña, Milo Imagines The World, received six starred reviews and was a #1 Indie Bestseller and a New York Times bestseller. His collaboration with poet Amanda Gorman, Something, Someday, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. His illustrations for Nina: A Story of Nina Simone, written by Traci Todd, were recognized with a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor in 2022.

Read a recap

About Spencer G. Shaw (1916-2010)

Spencer Shaw speaks with a group of childrenSpencer Shaw picked his profession by the time he reached high school. Books and reading were important parts of his family life, and so was the Northwest Branch of the Hartford, Connecticut, Public Library.

“I was impressed with the work of the librarians and the services they rendered to the public,” he remembered. “Librarian Desier Moulton made it a welcomed place for the whole neighborhood. On Saturday mornings we gathered for the weekly story hours, where we were introduced to rich sources of folk literature from around the world. That’s what I admired.”

Shaw carried on that tradition during a nearly seven-decade career as a public librarian, educator and world-renowned expert on storytelling and library service to children. The American Library Association called him an “authentic and forthright spokesperson for children and youth librarians, contributing enormously in motivating and guiding the nation’s youth.”

Read more about Shaw in this 2005 profile.

Previous Spencer Shaw Lecturers

Nic Stone
Oct. 19, 2023

Joseph Bruchac
Oct. 20, 2022

Yuyi Morales

Yuyi Morales
Oct. 14, 2021 
"Our Stories, Our Pages"

Brian Selznick

Brian Selznick
Oct. 29, 2020 
"The road to 'Hugo'"

Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds
Oct. 31, 2019 
"These Three Words"

Sharon Draper

Sharon Draper
Oct. 2, 2018
"Blending Story, Symphony and Spirit"

Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle
Oct. 19, 2017 
"Prose and Poetry"

M.T. Anderson

M.T. Anderson
Nov. 9, 2016 
"The Past is Another Country: They Do Things Differently There"

Kadir Nelson

Kadir Nelson
Oct. 22, 2015 
"The Art of Storytelling"

Grace Lin

Grace Lin
Nov. 6, 2014 
"Path of a Multicultural Author and Illustrator"

Jack Gantos

Jack Gantos
Nov. 7, 2013 
"It's All Personal"

Christopher Paul Curtis

Christopher Paul Curtis
Oct. 25, 2012 
"How to Construct an Author"

Pam Muños Ryan

Pam Muños Ryan
Oct. 27, 2011 
"Why I Read and Why I Write: The Cloud with a Silver Lining"

Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen
Oct. 16, 2010 
"On the Slant"

Patricia C. McKissack

Patricia C. McKissack
Feb. 25, 2010 
"On the Front Porch of My Mind: Stories and Where the Stories Came From"

Gerald McDermott

Gerald McDermott
Nov. 19, 2008 
"Heroes & Tricksters: A Mythic Journey"

Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers
Oct. 24, 2007 
"Books & Boys: Making It Work!"

Richard Peck

Richard Peck
Nov. 15, 2006 
"Voices in an Empty Room: Five Apologies for the Narrative"

Spencer Shaw

Spencer Shaw
Nov. 16, 2005 
"Taking the Road Less Traveled"

Jerry Pinkney

Jerry Pinkney
Nov. 18, 2004 
"A Sense of Place: Narratives Real and Imaginary"

Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson
Nov. 19, 2003 
"The Left-Behind Child"

Gary Soto

Gary Soto
Oct. 3, 2002 
"The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy"

Ashley Bryan

Ashley Bryan
Oct. 20, 2000 
"A Tender Bridge: Black American Poetry, Spirituals and African Folktales"

Tom Feelings

Tom Feelings
Oct. 12, 1998 
"Illustration is My Form, the Black Experience My Story and My Content"

Theodore Taylor

Theodore Taylor
1993-94 
Author of Timothy of the Cay

Laurence Yep

Laurence Yep
Oct. 29, 1991 
"My Father's Watch"

Susan Cooper

Susan Cooper
Nov. 2, 1990 
"In Defense of Books"

Milton Meltzer

Milton Meltzer
Nov. 3, 1989 
"From Biography to Autobiography"

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak
Oct. 28, 1988 
"The Creative Process"

Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy
1986 

  

 

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News

Mason Koh, Kai Andreic, Asad Jaffery, Joshua Williams and Vaibava Venkatesan

Students develop tool to track kudos among co-workers

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
In today’s fast-paced work environment, managers often look for tools to make their jobs easier. For someone managing a large team, wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that regularly provides summarized feedback about each employee?...
Read more
Students (from left) Harman Zhang, Sara Duan, Justin Dong, Noa Avitan and David Pham

Informatics team helps music streamer earn money for artists

Thursday, May 22, 2025
For a music creator, getting paid by listeners around the world should be as simple as a fan clicking “subscribe.” But for many artists in less developed countries, existing streaming platforms make that difficult or out of reach.An...
Read more

Events

May 29
 
5:30-6:30PM

iSchool Library Leadership Spotlight Series: Melody Sky Weaver

Virtual
May 30
 
11:30-1:15PM

Faculty Meeting

Bloedel Hall 070
Jun 2
 
12:00-1:00PM

MSIM Mid-Career Last Chance Q&A

Zoom / Online
Jun 3
 
5:00-6:15PM

Putting Values into Action: The Balance Between Holding and Shaping Beliefs Virtual Panel

Virtual
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