Librarians drop Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from award, citing concerns about racial stereotypes

The Association for Library Service to Children has dropped the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder from its award for children's writers and illustrators, citing "expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC's core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness" in her writing.

The award now will be known as the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the association's board announced Saturday during the American Library Association annual convention.

Wilder, born in 1867 outside Pepin, Wisconsin, is the author of the immensely popular Little House series of novels, which begin with Little House in the Big Woods, published in 1932 and set in Wisconsin.

Eight more books followed. The Association for Library Service to Children launched its lifetime achievement award in 1954 by giving it to Wilder and naming it after her.

► Dec. 11: New bio is a searing portrait of 'Little House on the Prairie' author
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► November 2014: Laura Ingalls Wilder memoir offers candid view of her life

Wilder spent two years of her childhood in Iowa, when her family moved to Burr Oak in 1876 to operate the Masters Hotel in the tiny community that served as a stopping-off place for settlers heading west. The hotel has been restored and is now part of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum.

By the fifth of the nine books in her series, her family had moved near De Smet, South Dakota, about 75 miles northwest of Sioux Falls. She spent much of the remaining volumes in that area.

Past winners of the award include some of the best-known names in children’s books: Katherine Paterson, Tomie dePaola, Eric Carle, Virginia Hamilton, Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss and Beverly Cleary. Under its new name, the award was given this year to Jacqueline Woodson.

According to the association's task force that pondered the change:

We acknowledge that Wilder's books not only hold a significant place in the history of children's literature and continue to be read today, but that they have been and continue to be deeply meaningful to many readers on a personal level. We also acknowledge that they have been deeply painful to many readers and have been across decades alongside their popularity.

Both of these things are true. Neither the option to rename the award nor the option to sunset the award and establish a new award demands that anyone change their personal relationship with or feelings about Wilder's books.

The task force points to "cultural attitudes toward Indigenous people and people of color" in Wilder's stories.

While passages within Wilder's work reflect many attitudes of the era, the section of literature most often cited in this debate is from the 1935 story Going West, about a pioneering family.

In the book, Pa explains the land his family is seeking: “There were no people. Only Indians lived there.”

In 1953, Wilder changed the passage to say, "There were no settlers there. Only Indians lived there." The change has not appeased many critics.

The library group has made its decision, but the debate will continue on Twitter.

Contributing: Stephen Herzog, Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader; The Associated Press. Follow Jim Higgins on Twitter: @jhiggy

WSBTV