Michelle H. Martin’s office is warm, inviting, and overflowing with books. Her desk and shelves are filled with reading material for children, young people, and those who write for and about them. A Ramona Quimby doll in a striped outfit smiles mischievously from the corner.
Martin, who has been the Beverly Cleary Endowed Professor in Children and Youth Services since 2016, takes inspiration from Cleary and other sources.
“I think that Beverly Cleary and I are on the same page about the importance of meeting kids where they are, and meeting families where they are to get kids excited about story,” Martin said. Martin and Cleary have both contributed extensively to the field of children’s literature and paved the way for generations of readers, educators and librarians to flourish.
To honor Cleary’s legacy, which includes bringing the relatably imperfect characters of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse to life, the University of Washington Information School began work on an endowed professorship in her name in the early 2000s.
Thanks to the generous support of the Cleary family, committed alumni, several public libraries, faculty and staff leaders, and other donors, the endowed professorship now honors the writer who is perhaps the school’s best-known alum. Cleary completed her degree in 1939 at what was then the School of Librarianship, a precursor to the iSchool.
After finishing her studies, Cleary worked as a librarian in Yakima and at a U.S. Army hospital in Oakland, Calif. In these roles, Cleary connected with young readers who sought books about kids like them. She was inspired to write books that dealt with subjects such as sibling rivalries, family financial challenges, anger, jealousy, and quarrels with school friends. She published her first book in 1950.
“She was so needed for children,” said Priscilla L. Strand, M.Lib. ’71, who served on the committee that created the Cleary Professorship. “She wanted to read books about children like herself.”
Endowed professorships enable the university to recruit and retain faculty members who have achieved high-impact scholarship and bring new perspectives to students. Eliza Dresang, a longtime professor of library science who studied the impacts of the digital world on children’s literature, was the first Cleary professor and served in the role from 2009 to 2014.
Following Dresang’s passing, former Dean Harry Bruce invited Martin to take on the role. Originally hailing from South Carolina and coming from a long line of educators, Martin had completed a doctorate in English, specializing in Children's and Young Adult Literature. She was teaching and researching as the inaugural Augusta Baker Endowed Chair in Childhood Literacy at the University of South Carolina. She likely would not have come to Washington if not for the Cleary Professorship. Today, Martin is beloved by Master of Library and Information Science students and alumni.
Maina Gachugu was teaching in local middle schools when he decided to apply to earn his MLIS degree. Taking courses with Martin reinvigorated his passion for librarianship, storytelling and working closely with students. “She was generous with her feedback,” he said. Martin encouraged improvement and revision, and frequently shared opportunities with her students.
“That was what was so special to me about Doc Martin," Gachugu said. "She never coddled you, but she definitely held you up to a rigorous lens and made sure that you worked on your craft.” Gachugu completed his MLIS in 2022, and is now a teacher-librarian and technology integration specialist in the Kent School District.
“I really just got to see her walk her walk in a lot of ways,” Gachugu said, explaining that Martin has advocated for the importance of storytelling, reading and storytime, even in the face of greater emphasis on test-taking in schools. “It was really powerful, and something that I’ve taken into my own practice. Hearing that in theory is one thing, but then seeing it in practice is another.”
By teaching librarians and teachers, as well as work with , Martin’s nonprofit that promotes children’s literacy, her impacts reverberate out from the university into the greater community and to young readers.
J. Elizabeth Mills, MLIS ’13, Ph.D. ’21, worked with both Cleary professors. “Eliza's dedication to librarians and the library field informed the classes she taught and the research she led. I have taken that dedication to heart and tried to embody her approach through my mentorship, research, and teaching,” she said.
“Michelle, or Doc Martin, brought a similar level of passion for the power of literacy and literature in children's lives,” Mills continued. “She enabled me to tap back into my humanities academic background as we collaborated on papers and studies together, and she mentored me through becoming a children's book reviewer.” Mills is now a research consultant and guest faculty member at the iSchool, and she has published her own .
The Cleary Professorship, currently the only endowed professorship at the iSchool, has deepened the kinds of research, writing and community partnerships that Martin has pursued. In addition to teaching, Martin also spearheads the Spencer G. Shaw Lecture, mentors students, , and consults in publishing. She has also served as chair of the MLIS program, and recently published a co-edited anthology called “.”
She plans to incorporate more work on Cleary’s legacy in collaboration with her students. “The hands-on piece, the interactive piece is always part of my teaching, my research, my service,” Martin said.
Martin and Cleary met early in Martin’s time at the UW, and shared a love of inspiring children to become readers. “Her attention to, not the way kids should be, but the way kids really are, is something that has been important for me,” Martin said.
To support the Beverly Cleary Endowed Professorship in Children and Youth Services, visit /support/ (or ) or speak with Information School Advancement staff.