Anne Carroll Moore: Pioneer of Youth Librarianship and Grande Dame of Childrens Literature

Noemi Flores LIS 701 December 10, 2012.

The early twentieth century library did not welcome children. Children were noisy and messy, both qualities library staff and patrons found undesirable. Childrens literature was undervalued as a genre, and youth librarianship was a concentration just beginning to exist. Anne Carroll Moore was a librarian, author, literary critic, editor, and lecturer who worked to develop the field of youth librarianship and the quality of childrens literature. Anne Carroll Moore was born Annie Carroll Moore in Limerick, Maine to Luther Sanborn Moore and Sarah Hidden Barker on July 12, 1871. Moore described her childhood favorably: There was everything and more on the place [her home] to enlarge the vision and impress the mind of a growing boy or girl, and my seven brothers and I derived no small part of our education for life in any community from our spacious home environment, freedom to go and come, and early participation in the varied social life of a selfcontained village in which lived every kind of character.1 She graduated from the Branford Academy for Women in Massachusetts in 1891. Moores father was a lawyer, and despite the rarity of female law professionals Moore decided to study law as well. The death of her parents in 1892 prevented this from happening. After four years of handling family matters she entered the Library School of Pratt Institute. She graduated in 1896 at the age of twenty-five, and served as the head of the childrens department at the Pratt Institute Free Library in Brooklyn. Lacking any predecessors, Moore set out to create a place for children in the library. She exercised great initiative and created and established programs such as storytelling and poetry for children. Interestingly, prior to her work at the Pratt Free Library she had little experience working with children. To remedy the situation, she threw herself into observational research. She observed them in the library, schools, settlement houses, and even in the streets. She became
Anne Carroll Moore, Moore, Anne Carroll, The Junior Book of Authors (1951), Biography Reference Bank (accessed November 30, 2012)
1

interested in modern contemporary educational and social service philosophies.2 She found them to be open and intensely curious. John Deweys progressive education and childhood ideas influenced her, particularly the concept that children were a demographic that necessitated protection and advocacy from adults. The theme was social and cultural betterment. She believed that childrens literature could be used to improve childrens minds, and that could in turn cause their lives to improve. They could increase their knowledge with books and learn about children from other regions and other cultures.3 Moore developed a philosophy and ideas about how childrens librarianship ought to function within the field of general librarianship. Specifically, she created standards that should rule the way the library approaches childrens librarianship and the patrons it serves. The standards are called the Four Respects. They are 1. Respect for the children 2. Respect for the books. 3. Respect for the childrens librarian as an integral element in the librarys organization 4. Respect for the professional status of childrens librarianship.4 Respect for the children meant that children ought to be treated as individuals and taken seriously. Their request for books ought to be considered. Respect for the books meant more than just physically taking care of the collection. It meant that the books provided for the children were well written, factually accurate, sincere, and did not mix fantasy with reality. Respect for the childrens librarian meant that the childrens librarian should not be treated as a lesser part of the library- a part that could be easily dispensed. Respect for the profession meant the training

Julie Cummins, Moore Than Meets the Eye: How a Librarian with Little Experience with Kids Became One of the Most Powerful People in Childrens Publishing, School Library Journal (July 1999): 27. 3 Marianne Martens, Anne Carroll Moore: Grande Dame of Childrens Literature, Library Media Connection (August-September 2011) 42. 4 Meg Smith, The ABCs of Advocacy: The Role of Childrens Managers in Public Libraries , Children and Libraries (Winter 2008) 50.

and expertise of a childrens librarian should be recognized as professional.5 In 1906, she was recruited to become the first Supervisor of Work with Children at the New York Public Library. The growth of the Brooklyn Public Library would override Pratts role as public library in that area. There she continued to develop the profession of the childrens librarian. Moore could put New York in a position to lead Pittsburgh and Cleveland in the field of childrens librarianship.6 She hired and trained childrens librarians, developed the childrens literature collections, and planned childrens rooms for New York Public Library branches. She ensured that the rooms were cozy and welcoming. She included candlelight and comfortable furniture, and the rooms were inhabited by favorite storybook characters. In terms of collection development, Moore was committed to the highest standards of literature for the children. To her, making beautiful books was something like a duty. Her programs included storytelling and guest authors.7 She disliked formula books like the Rover Boys, Tom Swift, and the Bobbsey Twins. They were insipid and moralizing. Moore welcomed new forms of book, books that reflected the variety of childrens interests.8 She loved to have celebrations in the library. It was one of her favorite ways to promote literacy and the cause of improving childrens librarianship and literature.9 The idea of a room specifically for children in the library was a new one. In fact, some libraries had rules disallowing the presence of children under age fourteen in their building. Moore did away with this ban and encouraged children to come to the libraries, borrow books, and attend programs. At both the Pratt Free Library and the NYPL, Moore instituted a pledge for

5 6

Cummins, 27. Barbara Bader, Only the Best: the Hits and Misses of Anne Carroll Moore, Horn Book Magazine vol. 73,

iss 5: 2.

7 8

Martens, 43. Bader, 3. 9 Martens, 43.

child borrowers to take. It was something of a ceremony. The child taking the pledge would recite the words, When I write my name in this book I promise to take good care of the books I use at home and in the library, and to obey the rules of the library.10 Then they would sign their name in a large black book. The purpose of this pledge was to create a bond between the child and the library, a sense of responsibility. It was likely one of their first acts of citizenship.11 In 1918, at the behest of writer Sherwood Anderson, Moore gave eight lectures to people in the book business i.e. publishers, editors, authors, illustrators, and librarians about the importance of childrens books. This is the same time that Carnegie libraries were being built throughout the country, and they were beginning to include separate childrens rooms. That year MacMillan, Doubleday, Scribners and other publishers- realizing there was money to be madecreated separate departments within their organizations devoted to childrens publishing. Because this department concerned children and women were thought to have a special bond with them, women were often given job opportunities in publishing they could not have gained in other departments of publishing.12 Also, libraries throughout the country were starting to add childrens rooms in their buildings.13 In 1918, Franklin Mathiews, librarian for the Boy Scouts of America and Frederic Melcher, editor of Publishers Weekly and secretary of the American Booksellers Association, approached Moore in her now legendary office Room 105 at the central building of NYPL. They were worried about the quality of the books boys were reading. So, they collaborated and created Childrens Book Week as a means of addressing the issue. It became an annual event that celebrated books and reading (one of the many celebrations Moore would plan). The first

10 11

Frances Clarke Sayers, Anne Carroll Moore: A Biography (New York: Atheneum, 1972) 68. Sayers, 68. 12 Martens, 42. 13 Cummins, 28.

celebration happened in 1919 with Kate Douglas Wiggin, author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, as guest speaker. Melcher would go on to develop the Newberry and Caldecott medals in subsequent decades.14 In 1921, Moore went on a tour of libraries to England and France with the ALA. Her reputation as childrens literature critic had even crossed the Atlantic. There she made even more contacts, such as Walter de la Mare, L. Leslie Brooke, and Beatrix Potter. Moore was also an author. In 1939, Doubleday produced My Roads to Childhood which was a compilation of Moores book reviews and some other materials.15She wrote Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story as well as Nicholas and the Golden Goose. Nicholas was a character based on a wooden doll Moore often carried in her purse that she used to help with relating with the children. He was named for the patron saint of the Dutch. She involved him in events, celebrations, and programs. He also attended dinners with friends, and eventually got his own stationary and wrote his own letters. The NYPL archives have many letters in which authors and illustrators either acknowledged Nicholas in the letter or directly addressed them to him. Such was the power of Ms. Moore. It is difficult to determine whether or not they were humoring her or whether they truly did enjoy their discourse with Nicholas. In 1925, Beatrix Potter, a friend of Moores sent her a Christmas card with Nicholas watching over Peter Rabbit tucked into bed. It read: Dear Miss Carroll Moore. I do not know the home address of Nicholas: Peter and Flopsy want to wish him a very Merry Christmas.16 Moore was influential in the book world not solely because of her dedication to childrens librarianship. She was also a well respected childrens literature critic. In 1918 she joined Bookman, a chief literary journal of that time period. It was the first concentrated effort

14 15

Cummins, 28. Cummins, 28. 16 Martens, 43.

for a column completely devoted to the reviewing of childrens literature.17 From 1924 until 1930 when the Great Depression caused budget cuts, Moore edited a weekly page of childrens literature review at the New York Herald Tribune. She called her page The Three Owls. One owl symbolized the writer, one the artist, and one the critic. In the 1930s, Horn Book became the leading journal of childrens literature review, and in 1936 Moore joined and wrote for them until just before her death in 1960. From all her research in childrens literature Moore compiled lists of books she recommended children to read. This list was very influential. It was an honor to be named on one of Moores lists and publishers, authors, and artists all hoped to be included. Some examples of her lists were Seven Stories High and Childrens Books Suggested as Holiday Gifts. The latter was an annual publication issued by the NYPL. It still exists today as Childrens Books. It lists the 100 best childrens books published in the past year selected by a committee of childrens librarians.18 Over the years, Moore developed a widespread network. She gained contacts among authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers. Authors and illustrators sought her approval and advice, and publishers sought her opinions about what types of books they should be including in their collections. She acted the part of the unofficial agent and mentor, connecting writers to illustrators, authors to publishers etc. The Anne Carroll Moore Papers in the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library demonstrate how influential a person she was. She corresponded with Walter de la Mare, Robert McCloskey, Hendrik Willem van Loon Leslie Brooks, Eleanor Roosevelt, Beatrix Potter and many more. More than 350 wrote to her. She and Potter corresponded from 1921 until Potters death in 1943 (there are over 30 letters

17 18

Bader, 2. Cummins, 29.

from Potter).19 The library staff members she mentored often became Childrens book editors, authors, or illustrators. Margaret McElderry, Moores assistant became a childrens book editor and publisher of childrens books. Eleanor Estes was a staff member who wrote The Moffats and won a Newberry award. Claire Huchet Bishop was a staff member who went on to write The Five Chinese Brothers and Twenty and Ten. Mary Gould Davis, Anna Cogswell Tyler, and Pura Belpre (the first librarian in the NYPL of Puerto Rican heritage) are writers who wrote books based on their time as storytellers at the NYPL. Marcia Brown was an illustrator who worked with Moore and is the only person who has won the Caldecott Award three times.20 It was believed that a word from Anne Carroll Moore could make or break the reputation of a book or author. She was wooed by all. Some books owed their success to her endorsement of them, but there are at least a few notable exceptions. Some books succeeded though she disliked them, and some she liked did not stand the test of time. Her dislike for E.B. Whites childrens books is well known. Stuart Little was released in 1945 and though Moore did not review it, her silence spoke as loudly as if she had actually spoken. The book did well with other critics, but Moore wrote in a letter that, I was never so disappointed in a book in my life.21 To White, she wrote that Stuart Little was lacking as a completely realized fantasy; the invention was labored and the illustrations of Stuart were out of scale.22 Moore was friends with the Whites. They were close enough to exchange dinner invitations, discuss business amicably. Moore worried that the novel would be an embarrassment to E.B. White and after reading the novel in galleys, she urged White to withdraw it or at least to publish it anonymously. He

19 20

Martens, 42. Cummins, 29. 21 Cummins, 29. 22 Cummins, 29.

ignored the advice, and the book went on to be a great success. Moore cared little for Charlottes Web as well.23 Moore cared for neither the Little House books nor Goodnight Moon. She did not say anything particularly negative about the Little House books, but she noticeably did not pay much attention to them at a time when others were. She did not like Goodnight Moon either. Barbara Bader writing for Horn Book suggests that Moore was perhaps indifferent to the nuances of books for small children. That could have contributed to her dislike of what became such a popular book.24 There are multiple perspectives of any issue, and though Moore was a giant of childrens librarianship and literature there are criticisms of her. Moore was involved with the process, sometimes too involved, to the point of officiousness. Also, there were some thoughts that Moore stayed too long on the job. Moore retired from the NYPL in 1941 at the age of 70, and she kept reviewing literature until the 1960s. Some people in the field felt that she remained too old fashioned, that she did not move with the times. Therefore, she was not properly equipped to judge contemporary novels. Also, she may have had an inflated sense of the worth of her own reviews. By having such high standards, she may have discounted other reviewers not in her own circle. Her reviews were charming and colorful, but excessive in praise. There was a suggestion of partiality towards books from certain publishers.25 Regardless of the various opinions on Moores characteristics, it is indisputable that she worked hard. She received several awards. Amongst them are the Diploma of Honor by Pratt Institute in 1932 and the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters she received from the University of Maine in 1940. Her commitment to the development of good childrens literature and youth
23 24

Cummins, 29. Bader, 4-5. 25 Bader, 4-5.

librarianship was admirable and it was certainly true that she cared about the children and worked hard to help them love books and reading.

Bibliography Bader, Barbara. Only the Best: the Hits and Misses of Anne Carroll Moore. Horn Book Magazine 73, iss. 5 (1997): 1-8. (accessed November 30). Cummins, Julie. Moore Than Meets the Eye: How a Librarian with Little Experience with Kids Became One of the Most Powerful People in Childrens Publishing. School Library Journal (July 1999): 27-9. (accessed November 30, 2012). Lepore, Jill. The Lion and the Mouse. The New Yorker 84, iss. 21 (2008): 66-73 (accessed November 30). Martens, Marianne. Anne Carroll Moore: Grande Dame of Childrens Literature. Library Media Connection (August-September 2011): 42-46 (accessed November 30). McElderry, Margaret. Remarkable Women: Anne Carroll Moore & Company. School Library Journal (March 1992): 156-162 (accessed November 30). Moore, Anne Carroll. Moore, Anne Carroll. The Junior Book of Authors (1951). Biography Reference Bank (accessed November 30, 2012). Sayers, Frances Clarke. Anne Carroll Moore: a Biography. New York: Atheneum, 1972. Smith, Meg. The ABCs of Advocacy: the Role of Childrens Managers in Public Libraries. Children and Libraries (Winter 2008): 50-51 (accessed November 30, 2012).