Kerlan Award

The Kerlan Award is a literary award given by the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative process. It is given "In recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."Berman, Ruth. The Kerlan Award in Children's Literature:1975-2001. University of Minnesota Press, 2001.

Criteria for award The writer or illustrator must be represented within the Kerlan Collection The award should promote the goals of the collection and, that 'contribution' would emphasize the creative process. Awards may be given to a living person or posthumously.

Further refinement of the original guidelines have defined 'singular attainments' as peer acceptance, volume of work and a high standard of quality and the term 'generous donation' was tied directly to high research value in the area of children's literature.

The Kerlan Collection Irvine Kerlan, M.D. was a Minnesota native who earned his medical degree through the University of Minnesota. Throughout a successful medical career, which included working for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and lecturing throughout the United States he also collected children's books, artwork and manuscripts. His collection was so well respected that he loaned many of his piece out to libraries and museums both within the United States and abroad.

As his collecting hobby advanced, he began writing to authors and illustrators requesting meetings. He would invite them to his home, or visit them as his lecture schedule allowed. He often had books and manuscripts inscribed by these artists and writers. He became an Honorary Consultant on Children's Books for the Smithsonian Institution from 1958 to 1961 and had three of his exhibits travel through Europe, Asia and the Middle East after being sponsored by the U. S. Department of State.

Kerlan was killed in an automobile accident in 1963 and his collection of over 9,000 books, 180 manuscripts and many illustrations was willed to the University of Minnesota. There were also many types of correspondence with authors, artists, and editors.

Kerlan was the first of many estates given to the University of Minnesota libraries, and together these collections have become known as the Children's Literature Research Center (CLRC). Many famous authors and illustrators have donated works to the collection as well. Lois Lowry has given her original corrected manuscripts for thirteen novels, including her Newbery Award winning Number the Stars and The Giver. James Marshall has donated hundreds of sketches including many from the George and Martha and Miss Nelson series.

There are over 1,800 authors and illustrators represented in the collection with an item count of over 200,000.Publishers Weekly; 8/25/89, Vol. 236 Issue 8, p26, 2p

History of The Kerlan Award The Kerlan Award was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kelan Collection coming to the University of Minnesota library. It was given the distinction of being a Presidential Citation at its creation.

Kerlan Award recipients YearWinner1975Marie Hall Ets Marguerite Henry Elizabeth Coatsworth1976Roger Duvoisin1977Wanda Gag1978Carol Ryrie Brink1979Margot Zemach1980Glen Rounds1981Tomie dePaola1982Jean Craighead George1983Katherine Paterson1984Margaret Wise Brown and her Editors and Illustrators1985Eleanor Cameron1986Charlotte Zolotow1987Charles Mikolaycak1988Jane Yolen1989Gail E. Haley1990Madeleine L'Engle1991Leonard Everett Fisher1992Barbara Cooney1993Mary Stolz1994Myra Cohn Livingston1995Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Margot Tomes1996Marion Dane Bauer Paul Galdone1997Theodore Taylor1998Dahlov Ipcar1999Eve Bunting Lois LenskiDr. Edward B. Stanford Sandford had encouraged Kerlan to donate his collection to the U of M library and, upon Kerlan's unexpected death, he was the one to secure marshals to guard the house while the collection was evaluated, catalogued and moved. Dr. Norine Odland Dr. Orland was one of the first to recognize the high research value of the collection and bring students to view the works presented.2000Patricia Lauber2001Jane Resh Thomas Don Freeman2002Joan Lowery Nixon Barbara Esbensen2003Nikki Grimes Gustaf Tenggren2004Lois Lowry2005Ted Rand2006Karen Hesse2007Karen Cushman Louis Slobodkin2008Walter Dean Myers Robert Kraus2009Jeanette Winter2010Nancy Carlson2011Jane Kurtz2012Karen Nelson Hoyle2013Kate DiCamillo2014Linda Sue Park and Russell Freedman2015Sharon Creech2016Betsy Lewin and Ted Lewin2017John Coy2018Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm2019Lois Ehlert and Claudia Mills2020Jon Scieszka2021Ariane Dewey2022Andrea Davis Pinkney2023Lauren Stringer and Laurie Hertzel2024Lisa Yee

Kerlan Award

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