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CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) announced that the 2016 May Hill Arbuthnot Committee has selected the Santa Barbara Public Library System (California) as the site of the 2016 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Pat Mora. The event will be co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara City College, a U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Service Institution, and the University of California at Santa Barbara, which includes the Gervitz Graduate School of Education and the Center for Chicano Studies.

“The Santa Barbara Public Library System serves a large Latino and Spanish-speaking community where Pat Mora’s work provides materials for librarians and teachers and popular reading for families through extensive programming and services, “ said Arbuthnot Chair Julie Corsaro. “The Arbuthnot Lecture will serve as a capstone to a highly visible celebration of the new Central Children’s Library in the city’s vibrant Cultural Arts District. “

Mora was chosen to be the 2016 May Hill Arbuthnot presenter at the 2015 91´«Ã½ Midwinter Meeting held Jan. 30-Feb. 3 in Chicago. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Mora grew up bicultural and bilingual. Known for her lyrical style, Mora’s writing has won numerous awards, including a 2005 Belpré Honor Medal for text for “Doña Flor: A Tall Tale of a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart.” Her generosity for sharing bookjoy, the phrase she coined for the power and pleasure of words, led Mora to found the family literacy initiative, “El día de los niños, El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), which will observe its 20th anniversary in 2016.

The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture celebrates May Hill Arbuthnot, who served as a strong voice for children’s literature. Each year a lecturer is chosen who will prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature. This paper is delivered as a lecture each spring, and is subsequently published in Children & Libraries, the journal of ALSC. ALSC established the lecture series in 1969 with sponsorship from Scott, Foresman and Company. The lectureship is now funded by the ALSC May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Endowment, and administered by ALSC.

ALSC, a division of the 91´«Ã½, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC visit .

Members of the 2016 Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Committee are: Chair, Julie Corsaro, Williamburg, Virginia; Tracy Alley, Madeira Elementary School, Cincinnati; Holly Camino, Medina (Ohio) County District Library; Elizabeth Poe, Morgantown, West Virginia; and Cindy Welch, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.