"Charlemae Rollins"(June 20,1897-Febr uary 3,1979)

Was a pioneering librarian,author & storyteller in the area of African American literature.During her thirty-one years as head librarian of the children's department at the Chicago Public Library as well as after her retirement,she instituted substantial reforms in children's literature.Charlemae was born in Yazoo City Mississippi,to Allen G.Hill,a farmer & Birdie Tucker Hill,a teacher.Her family moved to Beggs in Oklahoma Terrority hoping to find better living conditions,but discovered that African Americans were excluded from attending school.Undeterred,Charlemae family founded a school which she attended.After completing her elementary education,she attended African American high schools in St.Louis,Missouri,Holly Springs,Mississippi,and Quindoro,Kansas,where she graduated in 1916.After earning her teaching certificate,Charlemae taught at the school her family had set up before leaving to attend Howard University.She returned after a year to marry Joseph Walter Rollins on April 8,1918.The couple moved to Chicago in 1919,after Joseph returned from World War I.Their son,Joseph Walter Rollins,Jr.,was born in 1920.Charlemae became a children's librarian at the Chicago Public Library in 1927.Initially,she worked at the Hardin Square Branch Library, where she became known as a prolific storyteller.She did not earn a degree,Charlemae received library training from Columbia College in the summer of 1932,and the graduate program of the University of Chicago from 1934-1936.It is not surprising Charlemae chose to concentrate in children's literature,calling learning to read at a young age "the best thing I ever did.Her grandmother,former slave,was pivotal person in her life.She helped Charlemae cultivate her love for reading by allowing her access library.This passion helped drive Charlemae to become a librarian.Chicago's African American swelled as more families moved north for better education,work and living conditions.Racism was rampant,contrasting with the benign attitude towards African Americans before 1915.Since then,tensions,had progressed,and culminated in events like the Chicago Race Riots of 1919.In such an atmosphere,no library was founded for the community until the George Cleveland Hall Branch  opened in 1932.The first branch built in an African American neighborhood,the library had a variety of patrons from various racial & economic groups.Charlemae became the head of the children's department.Where she worked until retiring in 1963.
Charlemae worked with the library director,Vivian Harsh,to make the library welcoming to the multicultural socioeconomically diverse patrons.Under their guidance the library
hosted discussion groups,lectures,a Negro History Club,and book fairs.In addition to her work with children,Charlemae also set up a reading guidance clinic for parents.
Many notable African American writers visited the library,including Richard Wright,Zora Neale Hurtson,Margaret Walker,and Langston Hughes,with whom Charlemae developed a friendship.Beside these contributions to librarianship,she also taught at Morgan College in Baltimore,Maryland,and summers at Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee.She also began teaching a course in Children's Literature at Roosevelt University in 1949 and continued until 1979.