Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth: A Biographical Dictionary (review)

From Ahlers to Woodworth, the biographies of ninety-seven librarians who served youth have been compiled in this useful historical reference book. Brief entries from one to four pages for each individual provide biographical information that is often difficult to locate elsewhere. This collection of informationon men and women who served children in public or school libraries or who supported the work of youth service professionals was inspired by The Dictionary of American Library Biography (DALB). Fifty-seven of the essays are original; Miller reprinted forty entries from several editions of the DALB. Adele M. Fasick, Julie Cummins, Blanche Woolls, and Ken Haycock are just a few of the numerous well-known librarians, editors, educators, and critics who contributed entries. Being influential, nationally or regionally known, a leader in professional associations or legislative support, an innovator or a philanthropist in support of library service to young adults were the selection criteria for inclusion.

All individuals included are deceased; the lives of these ninety-seven library leaders span two centuries. The earliest entry, Hannah Packard James (1835–1903), worked for the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War and in 1870 opened the Free Library of Newton, Massachusetts. An active member of the American Library Association, James was member number 210, a council member, and vice president from 1896 to 1898. The latest entry, Michael L. Printz (1937–96), a nationally known expert and advocate for young adult library services, spent his professional career as the librarian for the Topeka West High School, an adjunct professor, and a marketing consultant for Econo-clad Books. He died an untimely death from heart surgery complications in 1996. In 2000 the first Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature was given by the Young Adult Library Services Association in Printz's honor.

Most of the likely suspects are included on Miller's list as well as less well known leaders and pioneers. Readers and researchers will find entries for librarians such as Mary Hill Arbuthnot (1884–1974), who is remembered for her famous and well-used textbook for children's literature, Children and Books. Julie Corsaro writes that Ursula Nordstrom (1910–88), an editor for Harper & Brothers (later Harper & Row) for forty-three years, edited both the Caldecott and Newbery medal winners in 1957 and again in 1964. Nordstrom is also credited with discovering Maurice Sendak when he was a window display designer for F. A. O. Schwartz. A less well known librarian, Minerva Amanda Sanders (1837–1912), led the charge for an open shelf system and full library privileges for children in the 1870s in Ohio.

Miller notes that no selection process is perfect. An obvious exclusion was Siddie Jo Johnson, who served as children's librarian and Coordinator of Children's Services for the Dallas Public Library for twenty-seven years. Johnson, a published poet and author, was the recipient of awards from the Poetry Society of Texas and the Texas Institute of Letters as well as from the American Library Association for her work in children's library service.

Is Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth: A Biographical Dictionary a necessary purchase? Library historians and educators will find this reference resource useful, but most will find this a secondary purchase. The cover, which pictures two young girls looking at a laptop screen in the children's area of a library, is a bit misleading, and perhaps this resource will be overlooked by a browser.