Virginia Haviland
Virginia Haviland (May 21, 1911 – January 6, 1988) was an American librarian and writer who became an international authority in children's literature. She chaired the prestigious Newbery-Caldecott Award Committee, traveled and wrote extensively. Haviland is also well known for her Favorite Fairy Tales series, featuring stories from sixteen countries. Life and career Virginia Haviland was born in Rochester, New York, to William J. Haviland and Bertha M. Esten. She grew up mainly in Massachusetts. During her childhood, she traveled abroad and spent time with two aunts who entertained international visitors in their home. The early influence of contact with international visitors may have influenced her adult interest in traveling and working with international colleagues. Haviland held a BA in economics and mathematics from Cornell University (1933). She became a children's librarian in 1934 for the Boston Public Library, under the tutelage of Alice Jordan, founder of children's services there. She was a branch librarian and children's librarian at Boston from 1948 to 1952, and a reader's adviser for children from 1952 to 1963. Haviland studied folklore under Albert B. Lord at Harvard. In 1949 Haviland gave the New England Library Association's Hewins Lecture for research in the history of