Two recent articles have been receiving lots of buzz in youth literature circles. One from The New Yorker(opens in a new window) has to do with legendary New York Public Librarian Anne Carroll Moore, and her vehement—and public— dislike of Stuart Little. The new book by Leonard Marcus, Minders of Make Believe(opens in a new window), shares other stories that are associated with Moore, many wonderful and inspiring, but also telling of her determination, in 1906, to “purge the library’s collection of series fiction—books she considered trash.”
Stuart Little? Series books? It’s hard to imagine a public library without them!
Another heavily blogged about article is from Sunday’s New York Times. “Online, R U Really Reading(opens in a new window)” talks about how kids might not read books, but spend hours online including some time writing fan fiction about existing books rather than reading the books themselves.
I can’t help but wonder whether, in 50 or 100 years, we will look back at this fear of “online reading” with the same quaint sense of shock that we now look on Moore’s desire to keep Stuart Little and series books out of her beloved New York Public Library?
Stuart Little? Series books? It’s hard to imagine a public library without them!
Another heavily blogged about article is from Sunday’s New York Times. “Online, R U Really Reading(opens in a new window)” talks about how kids might not read books, but spend hours online including some time writing fan fiction about existing books rather than reading the books themselves.
I can’t help but wonder whether, in 50 or 100 years, we will look back at this fear of “online reading” with the same quaint sense of shock that we now look on Moore’s desire to keep Stuart Little and series books out of her beloved New York Public Library?