[N]early 15 months after the Vermont Board of Libraries unanimously recommended that the state librarian remove the name of Dorothy Canfield Fisher from the prestigious children’s book award, nothing has changed — except who’s the librarian.
Scott Murphy, who following the board’s Jan. 11, 2018, vote took no apparent measures to implement the change, stepped down from his position late last year without explanation. Board chair Bruce Post would not discuss the reasons for Murphy’s departure, saying it was a personnel matter.
Since that time, Jason Broughton has served as interim librarian while the Scott administration looks for a permanent replacement.
The board’s decision to urge the removal of Fisher’s name came after months of discussion about the author’s ties to the controversial eugenics movement in the state.
Abenaki educator Judy Dow had presented evidence of the author’s role with the Vermont Commission on Country Life, which helped bring eugenics to the forefront by promoting “better breeding.” Dow pointed to some of Fisher’s writings that she said disparaged American Indians and French Canadians.
Others who appeared before the panel argued that evidence of Fisher’s connections to eugenics was nonexistent or inconclusive.
In the end, the board decided to include no reference to eugenics in the resolution it adopted. The amended version offered by Post limited justification for the name change to a concern that the name was no longer relevant to today’s young people.
It was approved on a 7-0 vote.
The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award was created in 1957 to honor “excellence in children’s literature,” according to the Board of Libraries website. The winner is selected by Vermont students in Grades 4-8 from a list of 30 nominees. Students are asked to read at least five of the books before voting. Winners over the award’s 60-year history include Suzanne Collins, Carl Hiaasen, Judy Blume and David Budbill.
In his only discernible participation during the January 2018 board meeting, Murphy nodded in the affirmative when asked if his office could implement the change in time for the call for nominations in the fall.
When a VTDigger reporter attempted to follow up with him following the vote, Murphy did not respond to phone, text or email messages, nor to a visit to his Montpelier office.
Broughton, the interim librarian, said in a recent interview that he does not believe it’s appropriate for him to make a decision on the recommended name change and will leave that to his successor.
“My belief is that the next state librarian is best suited to make the decision,” Broughton said. “Any changes now might cause a situation of unhappiness based on the future decision if done by the interim. It is apparent to me, not to put it off, but that the decision be made with the next librarian.”
For his part, Post says he’s fine with the stance taken by Broughton.
“The board agreed that it’s not up to an interim state librarian, so there we go,” Post said in an interview. “The board was again fine with that and thought that was an appropriate conclusion for him to reach, and we haven’t spent any more time on it since January of last year.”
Broughton did say the department has continued to receive comments from the public on the proposed name change.
“We have gotten phone calls, letters, and we’ve gotten a lot of online feedback, in addition to what was already being received prior,” he said. “There were a variety of different opinions, but I’d say a third of the received opinions was for the name change, a third was neutral and understood both sides, and then the last third was requesting that the name not be changed and more discussions be made.”
The department is still accepting input from the public at its website.
Broughton indicated a decision has actually been made but that the department is not releasing it to the public, nor would he characterize the resolution in any way.
“Once the new state librarian is named, the board has encouraged them to make that decision rather quickly,” he said.
Most signs, however, would seem to indicate that there will be no change to the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award anytime soon.
The Department of Libraries notes that the deadline for students voting for this year’s award is April 8 and that it is taking reservations for the 2019 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Conference May 3 in Barre.