Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children

Gr 3–4—From early childhood, Moore had "ideas of her own" and "preferred taking wild toboggan rides" to staying indoors and doing the quiet things expected of girls in the 1870s. Pinborough's introduction to the pioneering librarian's Maine upbringing quickly identifies her independent thinking and strong opinions for which she was known. This picture-book account then focuses on her role in designing the famous children's room during construction of New York City's historic central library, her activities in developing services there, and her influence on the promotion of children's books and the wider field of children's library services. Readers learn that some libraries had become more welcoming to children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries though many were still inhospitable to them. The enthusiastic narrative makes it seem that Moore was a singular force in developing special rooms for children. "In big cities and small towns across America, more and more libraries began to copy Miss Moore's Central Children's Room. So did libraries in England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Russia, India and Japan." A concluding author's note does explain that other librarians were actually forerunners of Moore. Atwell's sunny, naive paintings and vignettes vary nicely in layout with many filling the page and a few set in frames or sweeping in circular lines. The flat figures in cheerful countryside, city, and library settings convey a long-ago time. The text is wooden at times but competent in telling its story. As a lesson in library history it will be most interesting to adults, who may also find enjoyable items in the bibliography of adult sources. It might also find readers among children who enjoy reading about earlier times —Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston