Oprah's Book Club, Jr.

Apparently not.

At least, not in downtown Minneapolis, where Susan Carr Brown helps supervise the Minneapolis Public Library's children's department. A week and a half after the show's August 3 broadcast, Brown had failed to detect any Oprah-related rumblings.

"It's interesting," says Brown, reflecting on Oprah's Book Club, a once-a-month segment that reaches 13 million TV viewers. "I used to supervise our telephone reference service, and we experienced the Oprah phenomenon. I have never seen [anything like that] in my entire library life. She had just announced her Oprah Book [Club pick for adults] and every single phone line wanted that book."

Oprah's kids' book list has also failed to make waves in L.A. According to Anne Connor, manager of children's services for the Los Angeles Public Library, the list has made "not even a ripple." Ditto, says Elizabeth Huntoon, director of children's and young adult services for the Chicago Public Library, who is, of course, based in the talk show host's hometown.

As it turns out, Oprah's producers also asked Storyopolis, a Beverly Hills, CA, bookstore specializing in children's picture books, to recommend kids' titles. "Most of the books that we had recommended were actually chosen," says co-owner Dawn Heinrichs.

That's more than ALA can claim. The majority of its selections by the Quicklists Consulting Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children did not make Oprah's final cut. But Linda Plevak, who chaired the committee, is just happy that Oprah turned to librarians for advice. She is also glad about the plug that Oprah gave ALA on nationwide TV and on her Web site. (For a list of the picks, see www.oprah.com.)--Rick Margolis