Get to Know… John Gifford

Posted on June 10, 2014 by nobles

He’s the head of the middle school, but did you know that John Gifford is also an avid collector of award-winning children’s books? When we found out that Mr. Gifford had an impressive collection of books honored with the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal, we knew that we had to feature them in the library and learn more about this unique hobby. In this post, Mr.  Gifford answers some of our questions about what sparked his fascination.

The Newbery Medal is given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to the author of the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” The Caldecott Medal is also given annually by ALSC to the “most distinguished American picture book for children.”

What started your interest in collecting Newbery and Caldecott winning books?
It was born from a dash of nostalgia and academic interest. I graduated from college with a Massachusetts certification to teach kindergarten through third grade.  Part of my studies involved a great deal of research into what young kids were reading and how they impacted literacy skills.  With that said, I remembered many favorites from my own childhood through young adult reading. As a child, I loved books by authors like James Marshall and Maurice Sendak. They were visually beautiful with such fantastic stories. Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series and L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time carried me through to middle school.

In my 20s, I went to any used bookstores that I could find. There was this hole in the wall in Connecticut where I found an old copy of Wrinkle in Time.  It got me interested in collecting the books from my childhood that I loved most, and that morphed into collecting winners of Newbery and Caldecott, which are deemed the best for this type of literature.

What is your favorite book in the collection?
That is difficult. I do think that Louis Sachar’s Holes is pretty brilliant.

Have you read all the books?
Not all, I have too many other books that I want to read. But it helps to have two young daughters that are still willing to let me read to them before bed.  I’m working through the ones that I haven’t read (and re-reading some that I have) with them.

How do you anticipate what this year’s winners will be?
I have some sense of the books that might be in contention, but not much. There are people who spend a lot of time trying to predict who will win, but I usually spend my time checking out the winners after they’ve been announced.

Do you have any techniques for getting a first edition of a book?
As bibliomania has set in, I’m looking for the first printings of the books. That is the only trick.  Most publishers use a string of numbers on the copyright page. If there is a “one” starting off the series, it is probably a first printing. I try to get out the weekend after the awards are announced and see if I get lucky at the big book stores. Otherwise, I need to search in the used book online marketplace. That can get expensive, so I try not to because sellers have a sense that this sort of thing is interesting to maniacs like me.

How do you display or protect the books in your collection?
I slap one of those clear mylar covers over the book jacket–just like what our trusty librarians do. That’s all.  Well, that and I tell my children that if they mess up my books, they are in big trouble. They tell me to get over myself.

What do you like to read for fun in general?
I always get the Best American Science essays each year. I like reading history and need to restart my effort to read presidential biographies in reverse order (I’m stuck on Van Buren!). That makes up most of my reading along with these classics that I read to my girls.

Thanks, Mr.