Sheila Agnes Egoff (January 20, 1918 – May 22, 2005) was a Canadian librarian, literary critic, and historian who was Canada's first professor of
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
. A recipient of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
, she was known for her studies of children's fiction including ''The Republic of Childhood'' (1967), ''Thursday's Child'' (1981) and ''Worlds Within'' (1988). The
Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize is named after her.
Life and career
Sheila Agnes Egoff was born in
Auburn, Maine
Auburn is a city in south-central Maine within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities ...
, in 1918 to a Bulgarian father and Scottish mother.
[ Her parents Daniel and Lucy Joyce Egoff () had met in ]Galt, Ontario
Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the to ...
,[ where they married before moving to Auburn.][ When Sheila was a year old, her father died in a swimming pool accident, after which the family returned to Galt and experienced financial hardship.][ Interested in reading from a young age, Egoff worked part-time at a local library in Galt when she was in high school.][ She received a BA from the ]University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
in 1947, a post-graduate degree in librarianship from the University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = Â ...
, in 1948, and a fellowship from the British Library Association.[ Alongside her studies, she worked as a librarian at ]Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
where she curated the Osborne Collection of classic British children's fiction.[ She also worked at the ]Canadian Library Association
The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...
.[
In 1961, the ]University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
recruited Egoff to the newly established School of Librarianship.[ Her academic career, which spanned over 25 years, saw her become the first tenured professor of children's literature in Canada.][ Known as a literary critic and historian,][ she wrote books, developed graduate courses and organized the Pacific Rim Conference on children's literature. According to scholar and collaborator Judith Saltman, her work had "a profound impact" on the teaching, criticism, publishing and librarianship of children's books in Canada.][ Through texts such as ''The Republic of Childhood'', Egoff both promoted and criticized Canadian children's fiction.][ Her writings about international fiction in English include ''Thursday's Child'', which won the ]American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
's Ralph R. Shaw Award, and ''Worlds Within'', a study of fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fan ...
.[
In 1983, Egoff retired from her academic position and resumed her librarianship at the ]UBC Library
The University of British Columbia Library is the library system of the University of British Columbia (UBC). The library is one of the 124 members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). In 2017, UBC Library ranked 29th among members of t ...
.[ She was appointed an ]Officer of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
, delivered speeches including an Arbuthnot Lecture and a Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Children's Book Week Lecture, and served as a judge for the Hans Christian Andersen Award
The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...
.[ An award in her name, the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, was instituted by the ]BC Book Prizes The BC Book & Yukon Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia and Yukon writers and publishers.
The prizes, as well as the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutena ...
in the 1980s.[ She died of kidney failure in ]Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
in 2005.[
]
Bibliography
As author
* ''The Republic of Childhood: A Critical Guide to Canadian Children’s Books'', 1967 (revised as ''The New Republic of Childhood'', 1990, with Judith Saltman)[
* ''Notable Canadian Children's Books: An Annotated Catalogue'', 1973][
* ''Thursday's Child: Trends and Patterns in Contemporary Children's Literature'', 1981][
* ''Worlds Within: Children's Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today'', 1988][
* ''Canadian Children's Books, 1799–1939: A Bibliographical Catalogue'', 1992][
* ''Books That Shaped Our Minds: A Bibliographical Catalogue of Selections Chiefly from the Arkley Collection of Early Historical Children's Literature'', 1998][
* ''Once Upon a Time: My Life with Children's Books'', 2005, with Wendy K. Sutton][
]
As editor
* ''Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature'', 1969, with G.T. Stubbs and L.F. Ashley[
]
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egoff, Sheila
1918 births
2005 deaths
Canadian historians
Canadian librarians
Canadian literary critics
Canadian speculative fiction critics
Canadian women academics
Canadian women historians
Canadian women librarians
Canadian women literary critics
University of British Columbia faculty
Alumni of University College London
University of Toronto alumni
Officers of the Order of Canada
People from Auburn, Maine