Arne Nixon Center receives major donation

Michael Cart

The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature has received a major donation from author/librarian Michael Cart. The gift, which is the first part of an ongoing donation, includes 3,439 books and other related materials from the donor's personal collection.

Cart, former director of the Beverly Hills Public Library, is a founding board member for the Arne Nixon Center. A noted reviewer and critic, he teaches children's and young adult literature at several universities and he has published books about children's and young adult literature.

Cart, who writes the column “Carte Blanche” in the American Library Association’s Booklist magazine, said in the September 15 issue that he is donating his collection to the Arne Nixon Center so the materials will be kept intact and available to students and fans of literature for young readers.

“ … I am confident that the center, curator Angelica Carpenter and the [Dean of Library Services] Michael Gorman … will ensure a warm welcome for my stuff,” Cart wrote.

Carpenter said the materials are warmly welcomed, but must be kept in storage for the time being; the Arne Nixon Center simply has no room for a donation of this size.

Cart has pledged that someday all his 10,000-plus books and papers will come to the Arne Nixon Center. He will be honored on Dec. 5 at the Henry Madden Library's Donor of the Year reception for this outstanding contribution.

Cart also writes fiction and edits anthologies for young adults. His latest anthology is “Necessary Noise: Stories about Our Families as They Really Are.” He is also the editor of a new literary magazine for teens called Rush Hour.

As president of the Young Adult Library Services Association, Cart founded the Michael L. Printz Award, which honors literary excellence in young adult literature. In 1999, the American Library Association presented him the Grolier Award to celebrate his lifetime achievements. He also hosts an award-winning television interview show, In Print, which runs on cable channels nationwide. His donation to the Arne Nixon Center includes 136 videocassettes from this program.

Cart's love for his childhood favorite "Freddy the Pig" books, an acclaimed children's series by Walter R. Brooks, has helped to bring those titles back into print for a new generation. Cart is also a past president of the "Friends of Freddy" literary society. He owns the papers of Walter R. Brooks, which will someday come to the Arne Nixon Center.

The center, the largest and most significant research center for the study of children’s books on the West Coast, is housed in the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State. It is named for the late Arne Nixon, a professor who taught children’s literature and storytelling at Fresno State for more than 30 years.

For more information, contact the Arne Nixon Center at 8-8116 or at its Web site www.arnenixoncenter.org.