Kids Books Honoring Inspiring Librarians

by Breanna J. McDaniel; illustrated by April Harrison

Chronicles the life of the beloved librarian, storyteller and the first Black coordinator of children’s services at all branches of The New York Public Library who championed books, writers and teachers centering around Black stories that were both educational and inspirational. 

written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter

Presents the true story of how Alia Baker, the librarian of the Basra library, and her friends managed to save the books of the library before the library was burned to the ground during the 2003 Iraq War.

by Jan Pinborough; illustrated by Debby Atwell

The true story of how librarian Ann Carroll Moore created the first children's room at The New York Public Library, a bright, warm room filled with artwork, window seats and most important of all, borrowing privileges for the world's best children's books in many different languages at a time in history when children weren't allowed to borrow library books. 

by M.G. King; illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

When RoseAleta Laurell begins her new job at the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart, Texas, she is surprised that the children of the town think the library is for adults. She vows to raise the money for a children’s section and spends a week living and working on the library roof, even surviving a dangerous storm. With the help of the entire town, RoseAleta raises over $39,000 from within the community and across the country.

by Annette Bay Pimentel; illustrated by Magaly Morales

Lively illustrations and lyrical text combine to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of the celebrated storyteller, author, folklorist and the first Latina librarian in New York City who was a pioneer of bilingual storytimes. 

by Gloria Houston; illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb

Dorothy has always wanted to work in a library like the red brick one of her girlhood, but after moving to rural North Carolina she discovers that the type of library is less important than the books and the people who read them. Inspired by the true story of Miss Dorothy, an enterprising and dedicated librarian who drove a bookmobile to bring books to her neighbors in Appalachia.

by Joanne Oppenheim

In the early 1940's, Clara Breed was the children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library. But she was also friend to dozens of Japanese American children and teens when war broke out in December of 1941. The story of what happened to these American citizens is movingly told through letters that her young friends wrote to Miss Breed during their internment. This remarkable librarian and humanitarian served as a lifeline to these imprisoned young people, and was brave enough to speak out against a shameful chapter in American history.

by Sharlee Glenn

Mary Lemist Titcomb (1852–1932) was always looking for ways to improve her library. As librarian at the Washington County Free Library in Maryland, Titcomb was concerned that the library was not reaching all the people it could. Titcomb set about to change the library system forever with the introduction of book-deposit stations throughout the country, a children’s room in the library, and her most revolutionary idea of all—a horse-drawn Book Wagon. The bookmobile was born!

by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Alexandra Badiu

There were no libraries in the backwoods of Kentucky in the 1930s. Librarians there and throughout the South delivered books to families by horseback and mule, sleeping outdoors or sheltering in barns when they could, going from farm to farm in remote areas. In this story, a woman named Anna Mary stands in for all the real-life horseback librarians who helped keep the love of books alive in Appalachia during the Great Depression.

by Monica Brown; illustrations by John Parra

Inspired by the heroic efforts of real-life librarian Luis Soriano, readers are introduced to the mobile library that journeys over mountains and through valleys to bring literacy and culture to rural Colombia, and to the children who wait for the BiblioBurro.

by Bahram Rahman; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Five-year-old Pari accompanies her mother on her library bus rounds for the first time, stopping at a village and a refugee camp so that girls there can exchange books and have a lesson in English. Talking with her mother as they drive, Pari learns that she is lucky that she can attend school the next year. Pari's mother had to learn in secret when it was forbidden to teach girls to read, and the young women the bus visits weekly have no other access to education. Inspired by the first library bus to operate in Kabul, Afghanistan.

by Margriet Ruurs

Do you get books from a public library in your town or even in your school library? In many remote areas of the world, there are no library buildings. In many countries, books are delivered in unusual way: by bus, boat, elephant, donkey, train, even by wheelbarrow. Why would librarians go to the trouble of packing books on the backs of elephants or driving miles to deliver books by bus? Because, as one librarian in Azerbaijan says, "Books are as important to us as air or water!"