Join the San Francisco Public Library Main Children’s Center as we present the 26th Effie Lee Morris Lecture.
Nicola Yoon Speaks June 2
Join acclaimed young adult fiction writer Nicola Yoon on Thursday, June 2, at 6 p.m. for the 26th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture, in a virtual-only event.
Yoon is the New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything, filmed in 2017; The Sun Is Also a Star, filmed in 2019; and her new novel, Instructions for Dancing. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Born in Jamaica, she immigrated to New York City at age 11.
Yoon’s talk focuses on the rich diversity, and the challenges, of the immigrant experience, as seen through her own and her characters’ lenses.
This event is sponsored by the Main Children's Center and the African American Center, in partnership with the Friends of the SF Public Library and the Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.
For more information, call (415) 557-4554, or email ChildrensCenter@sfpl.org.
26th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture with Nicola Yoon – June 2, 6 p.m.
Registration required: https://on.sfpl.org/ELM_2022

Effie Lee Morris – A Woman Ahead of Her Time
The Effie Lee Morris Lecture series at SFPL honors the values embodied by Effie Lee Morris (1921 – 2009), the first SFPL coordinator of children’s services, the first Black president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.
Ms. Morris was a tireless champion of diversity, inclusivity, and the rights of all young people to read, learn and create. She initiated the first annual celebration of Black history for youth at the Cleveland Public Library, and at the New York Public Library was the first librarian whose work focused on the needs of children who were blind or visually impaired. At SFPL, she was especially noted for her commitment to personally visit underserved communities to get books into the hands of all our youth.

Previous guest speakers and programs
2019 Isabel Campoy
Mi Voz Latina for a Choir of Diversity in Children's Literature
2019 Renée Watson
The Miracle of Joy: How Stories Heal
2018 Shane Evans
The Art of Dream
2017 Gary Soto
Too Much of a Good Thing: The Many Genres of Gary Soto
2016 Christian Robinson
You Are Here: Finding Yourself in Picture Books
2015 Chris Raschka
Remembering Books
2014 Yuyi Morales
Creating Children's Books: An Immigrant's Story
2013 Eve Bunting
Picture Books That Can’t Be Written: Social Issues in Children’s Literature
2012 Jerry Pinkney
A Sense of Place Real and Imagined
2011 Gerald McDermott
Tricksters: Gerald McDermott and the Art of the Folktale
2010 Ashley Wolff
Sunrise/Sunset: Exploring the Many Cycles of Life in Picture Books
2009 Pat Mora
The Zing of Writing
2008 Patricia McKissack
Storytelling, the Heart of Literacy
2007 Javaka Steptoe
On the creation of Swan Lake, the classic story retold by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
2006 Tomie dePaola
What Haven’t I Done Yet
2005 Pamela Munoz Ryan
Dreams, Discoveries and Daring Women
2004 Nikki Grimes
Does the World Really Need Another Book
2003 Daniel and Robert D. San Souci
Creative Collaboration with the Picture Book : An Inside View
2002 Milly Lee
Hay Choy: A Feast for Readers
2001 Thacher Hurd
Art Dogs and Alligators: Bringing Books to Life
2000 Alma Flor Ada
One Life, Many Voices: An Author’s Journey
1999 Ashley Bryan
Deep Like the Rivers : African Tales, Black American Poetry and Spirituals
1998 Laurence Yep
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Godzilla: Talking About Children’s Literature
1997 A Celebration of Children’s Literature- Featuring treasures from the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection of Children’s Literature