State Librarian Promises 'Thoughtful' Process To Rename Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award

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State Librarian Promises 'Thoughtful' Process To Rename Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award

开云体育 | By Jane Lindholm,

Mitch Wertlieb, Matthew F Smith

Published May 29, 2019 at 3:59 PM EDT

A display of books nominated for the 2019 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award, with shelves of previous years' nominees on either side, at Mt. Abraham Union High School in Bristol on May 14.

For more than half a century, Vermont鈥檚 middle-grade students have been reading books on Dorothy鈥檚 List, a and named for Arlington author Dorothy Canfield Fisher. But the author's connection to the eugenics movement, and criticism of her stereotyped portrayal of Native Americans and French Canadians in her work, are behind the Vermont Department of Libraries' decision to change the award's name.

Jason Broughton, Vermont's state librarian and Commissioner of Libraries, joins Vermont Edition to discuss the reasons behind the name change, the relevance of Fisher and her works to present-day Vermont readers and what to expect when it comes to renaming the annual program and award.

Broadcast on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Jane Lindholm

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for 开云体育. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning 开云体育 program Vermont Edition.

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Mitch Wertlieb

A graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.

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Matthew F Smith

Matt Smith worked for 开云体育 from 2017 to 2023 as managing editor and senior producer of Vermont Edition.

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