By: Allyson Mower

A hearty and happy birthday from librarians across the country to one of the most successful authors in America! Stephenie Meyer was born on December 24, 1973 in Connecticut and grew up in Arizona where she currently lives with her family. As a young person she was an avid reader. Titles such as Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables influenced her life and writing. According to the Wikipedia page about Stephenie Meyer, her Twilight book idea came to her in a dream which she then started to write for her own fun and enjoyment.

Not only do we celebrate Stephenie Meyer’s birthday, but also the positive impact her books have had on literacy throughout the world. Stephenie’s Twilight series received its fair share of challenges in 2009 and 2010 as one of the top ten most frequently challenged titles as reported to ALA (primarily because of religious viewpoints), but those challenges have not meant that people have stopped reading her books as attested by the 100 million copies sold in over 37 languages. That is certainly worth celebrating. Happy Birthday, Stephenie!

Allyson Mower, MA, MLIS is Head of Scholarly Communication & Copyright at the University of Utah Marriott Library. She’s very curious about curiosity, what drives people to uncover information, and how libraries of all types create demand for knowledge. As a tenured faculty member, she researches the history of academic freedom — a kind of intellectual freedom — and the history of authorship and scholarly communication at the institution. She provides the U of U community and the general public with information, tools, and services related to both copyright and publishing. Allyson was a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2008, was nominated as a 2012 Society for Scholarly Publishing Emerging Leader, and served as the U of U Academic Senate President in 2014. Find her on Twitter @allysonmower.