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Call Number: Mss 307 (A.08-162)
Title: Libby Simon fonds.
Dates: 1992-2009.
Extent: 0.13 m of textual records.
Biographical sketch: Libby Simon (nee Klein) was born on 21 December 1934 in Winnipeg. The youngest of five children and the only girl, she grew up in the North End of Winnipeg in a multi-racial, multicultural and multi-ethnic community of immigrants. Her parents had arrived in Canada from Poland in 1928. She married Harold Simon in 1956, and together, they raised one daughter.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology, a Pre-Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Manitoba. She was on the Dean's Honour List in both years of the Master's Program in 1970-1971 and received the Solomon Grand Prize in a tie for the highest standing in her final year in Social Casework (Fall Convocation 1970).
In her professional life, she was employed as a social worker for the Children’s Aid Society of Winnipeg for several years, then worked as a school social worker with the Child Guidance Clinic in Seven Oaks School Division for twenty years. While there, she created and led a special program called the Tri-Agency Parent Project, which joined some of the services of Child and Family Services, Child Guidance Clinic and the Seven Oaks School Division to focus on parenting.
Her first foray into writing was in 1992 when she wrote an academic essay for the B.C. Journal of Special Education. Since then she has become a freelance writer who has been published in the Winnipeg Free Press, Homemakers and Geist magazines, Canadian Living online magazine, U.S. anthologies, scholarly Canadian journals, as well as a variety of smaller periodicals. She has also read some of her works on CBC Radio in Winnipeg. In 2006, she received a Grant for Professional Development as a writer, from the Winnipeg Arts Council.
She is a member of the Penhandler’s Professional Women's Writers' Club, The Freelancers Writing group, the Writers Collective, and the Manitoba Writer’s Guild. She also holds membership in the Winnipeg Teachers' Association and the Manitoba Institute for Registered Social Workers. She currently resides in Winnipeg with her husband.
Custodial history: The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections by Libby Simon in 2008.
Scope and content: The fonds consists of published articles written by Libby Simon in journals, theWinnipeg Free Press and various books. It also consists of a small amount of correspondence.
Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.
Accruals: No further accruals are expected.
Finding aid: A printed finding aid is available in the Archives reading room and an on-line finding aid is available at the link below: