These books focus on children's librarians who connect positively with their communities (i.e., the children). Two examples, in particular, depict children's librarians who are parents (in these cases, "mothers") and prove themselves adept at incorporating children into a constructivist atmosphere of learning. The children not only learn, but they appear to be budding librarians! The exploratory nature of the activities for these "proto-librarians" builds upon their desire to try something new and to experiment in their learning: In this library setting they can even take chances. Finally, it may even be that all successful children's librarians in these books are in some sense ersatz mother-figures. But that is another thesis to be developed elsewhere.
Best, Cari. Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me. Illustrated by Niki Daly. New York: Orchard Books, 1995.
This book and the one by Julie Brillhart are very similar in setting, situation and results. However, they differ greatly in the details and, as a result, they are more like complements than competitors. In Red Light, Green Light, a little African-American girl accompanies her mother to the downtown public library where she is the children's librarian. This book definitely has more of an urban feel than many of the others. It is told entirely from the perspective of the girl, Lizzie. There is playfulness in the interaction between mother and daughter. When she sees the front of the public library, she decides, "My mama must be the most important person in the whole city." Yet, she has little sense of what her mother does: "Do you read all day?" She meets the staff--Toby, Flo, and Albert--to whom she is introduced as a "working girl." That is to say, she is a "proto-librarian."
We see her experience, and become integrated into, the library environment in numerous ways: she loves the smell of new books, she plays with puppets, and she plays the big bad wolf at the storytime presentation of the "3 Little Pigs." She goes on to help Flo at the circulation desk (date-stamping!), and then help a little boy to select a book. Later she "helps" Albert with a reference question, and finally helps to put things away at the end of the day. As a "librarian-in-the-making" she is able to connect with other staff, as well as help in activities such as storytime. She also connects with patrons. She, and her mother, appear to be able to identify their community and become integrated into it.
Brillhart, Julie. Storyhour - Starring Megan. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman, 1992.
Megan is yearns to read, but is finding it difficult to get started. Just like Lizzie in Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me, her mother is a librarian, and Megan becomes a kind of "proto-librarian." On the cover we see Megan as a librarian, sitting behind a big desk with piles of books and an open book lying in front of her, smiling engagingly. Sometimes she and her baby brother, Nathan, accompany her mother to the library. While she is there she performs many "library jobs": putting away books and toys, decorating, watering plants, etc. She also watches after Nathan when her mother is needed by patrons. She, like Library Lil (Williams) and Manuel in A Visit to the Library (Tester), is determined to read every book in the library.
When there is a story hour, Megan helps with name tags for the children. Her mother, who has been interacting with her community throughout the book, suddently becomes disconnected from the community by familial responsibility: Nathan is crying vigorously. So the proto-librarian (Megan) re-establishes the connection by overcoming her fear and reading a book to the children herself: "She read on and on. She showed the children the pictures, just the way her mother did." Thus, this is both a story about learning to read and about establishing a connection between librarian and community (both children and adults). She also helps her friends, other children, find access to books. At the close, she is reading a book to Nathan.
Hest, Amy. The Babies are Coming! Illustrated by Chloë Cheese. New York: Crown Pub., 1997.
This follows the story-hour preparations by twelve babies and their caregivers, as well as the children's librarian. Most of the book focusses on the children, although the librarian appears a couple times, accompanied by the refrain: "Soon it will be night. In the library Miss Lee scoots down the aisles jammed with books. The babies are coming! Miss Lee! Miss Lee! What book will it be?" She searches eagerly for the right books. At the end, we find her welcoming her community (the children and their caregivers) and entertaining them with a story. While the children appear to be paying close attention (with one exception), there is a rather large space between them and Miss Lee. While this story is charming, it adds little to the image of the children's librarian interacting with her/his community, except for the image of the librarian preparing for the arrival of the children.
Complements, compliments, annoyances: Matthew Z. Heintzelman
