Los Angeles Chapter
The Los Angeles chapter of the Women's National Book Association was founded in 1975 by Lee K. Levy, a member of the New York Chapter who had moved to Los Angeles. Lee became the first president and served from 1975 to 1977. Under her aegis the chapter prospered and developed into a true support group for women in the book world. Sylvia Cross, the second president, served from 1977 to 1979 and later became national president. She was responsible for developing procedure manuals for national officers. Since then the chapter has had many talented leaders, one of whom-Sue MacLaurin-also went on to become national president.
From the beginning, WNBA/LA's membership has reflected the city's diverse literary community: writers in all genres (including screenwriters, for this is very much a company town), editors and other publishing professionals, agents, publicists, librarians, booksellers, teachers, and-always a welcome category-readers who live part of their lives in the world of books whatever their day jobs may be. The chapter's activities have varied in accordance with the interests and available time of our members. For many years we held monthly meetings, open to the public, as well as an annual all-day writers' conference. Currently we hold two formal meetings, in fall and spring, along with a members-only holiday party and an annual banquet in June. Informal, ad hoc groups are organized by e-mail networking among members to attend author signings, lectures, exhibits, movies, and other community events. There are also committee meetings, work parties, and book sales throughout the year to support our principal chapter commitment, the administration of the Judy Lopez Memorial Awards for Children's Literature.
The awards, which have grown in prestige over the years, were established in 1985 to honor the memory of one of our founding members, who was a bookseller, publisher's representative, and lifelong lover of children's books. They are given annually to recognize works of literary excellence for nine- to twelve-year-olds. To be eligible for consideration, books must have been published in the United States in the year preceding the award (in 2002 for the 2003 award, for example), and the author must be a citizen or resident of the United States. The winning titles each year are selected by a Southern California-based panel of librarians and other professionals who work with books for young readers. The panel names a medalist and three honor books, which are celebrated in June at a dinner traditionally held at the Faculty Center of the University of California, Los Angeles. Contacting the winning authors and coordinating their visits to Los Angeles, publicizing the event, and organizing the program are among the many important tasks performed by WNBA/LA volunteers. New members and their ideas are very definitely welcome in this effort, which offers rewards of service and sociability even for those not otherwise associated with children's literature.