Lincoln Memorial University’s Growing Up and Growing Older: Books for Young Readers program supported by new endowment
The endowment comes from Dr. Sandra McGuire, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a former assistant dean and professor in the LMU-Caylor School of Nursing.
Lincoln Memorial University’s Growing Up and Growing Older: Books for Young Readers program has received a new endowment from its founder, Dr. Sandra McGuire, who started the booklist more than 40 years ago. The new endowment will ensure that the program can continue in perpetuity. The Growing Up and Growing Older: Books for Young Readers initiative focuses on promoting children’s literature that provide positive portrayals of aging and older adults.
According to an article on Lincoln Memorial University's website, McGuire is quoted as saying of the project, “I became aware of how early ageist attitudes develop and began thinking about how we could counteract those assumptions and put children on a path to positive attitudes about aging. Early children’s literature became a powerful part of that education—preparing children to live long lives in an aging world. I am grateful for LMU’s continuing support and interest. I hope LMU becomes known as a leader in this area. I believe it is one of the only universities with a designated early children’s literature and aging collection, and I would love to see it continue to grow.”
Dr. McGuire is a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a former assistant dean and professor in the LMU-Caylor School of Nursing. She founded the Growing Up and Growing Older: Books for Young Readers program in the 1980s when she was pursuing her doctoral studies in the Center for Understanding Aging. It is a curated booklist available through the university’s library that promotes positive portrayals of aging and older adults. McGuire has continued supporting the initiative through donations over the years.
The program has been recognized by the Education Resources Information Center from the U.S. Department of Education and on Ashton Applewhite’s Old School resource site.
McGuire works with Rhonda Armstrong, the director of Lincoln Memorial University’s library, and Sarah Seddon, the head of collection engagement, to continue the program through curation and expansion of the booklist. The team plans to expand into having a dedicated space in the library to house the materials noted on the booklist.
For more information about Lincoln Memorial University, visit the school’s website.