Anne Carroll Moore

New York librarian Anne Carroll Moore is a complex figure, and while her dislike for "Goodnight Nobody" might make her sound like a villain, she actually played a huge role in making libraries more accessible and inviting to children. [1]

According to editor and children’s author Jan Pinborough, when Moore moved to New York, she became one of a small number of librarians advocating for letting kids into libraries. They wanted to offer more opportunities to working-class kids in particular, who had limited opportunities to read. At a handful of libraries, they began experimenting with stocking a corner with children’s books and then making that area just for kids.

Moore radically expanded on this experiment. In 1911, the New York Public Library opened its iconic main branch at the corner of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, and it featured a dedicated children’s reading room run by Moore. She outfitted it with furniture, benches, and other things for small kids. The shelves were decked with fresh flowers and other friendly flourishes. There would be story hours, not just quiet reading, and thousands of books — not locked away for adults, but left on display for children [1]

Still, there was a catch — which is the Anne Carroll Moore’s vision also about what counted as children’s literature and what didn’t. Moore shared her picks publicly to help other librarians decide what to buy. She had created the market for kids literature and then went on to dominate and influence it for years to come. [1]

• 1. Goodnight Nobody, by Joe Rosenberg (Sept 29, 2020) 99 percent invisible ↩