Award to lose Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name will be removed from a major award because of how the “Little House on the Prairie” author portrayed minorities in her novels, the children’s division of the American Library Association voted Saturday.

“This decision was made in consideration of the fact that Wilder’s legacy … includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC’s core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness,” the Association for Library Service to Children said after the unanimous vote.

It will now be called the Children’s Literature Legacy Award.

Wilder, born in 1867, published her first “Little House on the Prairie” book in 1932; the seven subsequent novels about pioneer life in the west were published through 1943, just 14 years before she died. Wilder was presented the first award in 1954, after which it was named for her and presented every five years between 1960 and 1980, every three years between 1980 and 2001, every two years between 2001 and 2015 and annually since then.