Frances Clarke Sayers - Career

Career

While it was in her early years that she fell in love with the art of storytelling, it was not until the age of twelve, when she read an article in St. Nicholas Magazine regarding service to children in the New York Public Library, that Frances Clarke decided to become a children's librarian. She attended the University of Texas at Austin, but after spending only two years there she left in order to attend the Carnegie Library School in Pittsburgh because that university was "noted for its devoted staff and belief in taking books to children wherever they were". After graduation, she began her career in librarianship when Anne Carroll Moore, Superintendent of the Department of Work with Children at the New York Public Library, invited her to come to work there.

In 1923, after five years with the NYPL, Frances Clarke decided to move to California to be closer to her family. There she wed her longtime friend Alfred H.P. Sayers. The couple moved to Chicago where Alfred Sayers owned a bookstore. In Chicago, Sayers helped her husband run his bookstore and worked part-time as an editorial assistant for the American Library Association. Unfortunately, the Great Depression caused a lack of business for the Sayers’s bookstore and they decided to move back to California. Soon Sayers began to write children's books that would delight and enchant children, as well as adults, throughout the years. Her books were often semi-autobiographical, often bringing back the sights, smells, and sounds of her childhood in Texas.

In California Sayers added another title to her repertoire: that of lecturer. "In 1936 she offered a course in children's literature at the Library School of the University of California, Berkeley, where she emphasized high standards of criticism, respect for children and children's books, and delight in storytelling."

In 1941, Sayers moved back to New York to replace Anne Carroll Moore at the NYPL as Superintendent of the Department of Work with Children. While Superintendent Sayers also "taught a course in writing for children at the New School for Social Research...and served as a consultant to the Library of Congress for the reorganization of its Children’s Book Collection."

In 1952, after eleven years with the NYPL, Sayers retired from the life of a public librarian. However, her active spirit would not allow her to rest. In no time, Sayers was back lecturing students on the importance of children's literature. Throughout 1953 and 1954 Sayers traveled to many universities lecturing on this topic.

Sayers moved back to California to live with her sister. It was not long before Sayers was once again summoned to step into the role of lecturer. Sayers now found herself "Senior Lecturer in the English department for the University of California, Los Angeles. When the UCLA School of Library Service opened in 1960, she was invited to offer the course in children’s literature there also." She retired from lecturing in the mid-1960s, but continued writing children’s books and for scholarly journals. She died in her home of a stroke at the age of 91.