Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

Juvenile biography
"Today libraries across America have thousands of books for
children. And thanks to the help of a little girl from Limerick,
Maine, who had ideas of her own, any child can choose a book from a
library shelf, curl up in a comfortable seat to look through it--and
then take it home to read."
The day I discovered Jan Pinborough's Miss Moore Thought
Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore created Libraries for Children at
the Orono Public Library story time was in full swing. Kids and
parents were singing enthusiastically about the itsy bitsy spider and
its water spout adventures. I was shelving in the spacious children's
wing, being careful not to bump into little people. Later the corner
puppet theater would become quite popular. I closed my eyes and found
it hard to imagine the library without our younger patrons.
Not that long ago, however, public libraries were adults only
affairs. Children weren't even allowed to enter them, never mind take
books out. Kids would forget to return the books. They'd get sticky
fingerprints all over them. Libraries remained hushed, age segregated
institutions...
...until Moore and a few visionary peers started changing
things. She wasn't just settling for child inclusion. She wanted no
less than whole sections of interesting juvenile literature with kid
sized furniture, live entertainment, and beautiful, fascinating
objects that could be touched.
In addition to running her own children's wing in New York,
Moore wrote book reviews to help peers discover good children's lit.
And her retirement was anything but.
Some of the most memorable hours of my childhood were spent in
the children's wing of the Beverly (Massachusetts) Public library
browsing and skimming. It was the reward for being good during
grocery shopping. When I had children of my own we took full
advantage of the children's programming of the Bangor and Orono Public
Libraries.
If you have similar memories you owe Miss Moore big time. Maybe
it's about time to learn a bit about the lady?
On a personal note, I've had an exciting couple of days. Thursday I
got to attend the Hasbrouk summer cookout. The Orono police and
firefighters grilled burgers and hot dogs and residents made sides and
dessert. That was some good eating!
That night I was at a sign making party. We were making signs for the
weekend which was students returning to or beginning at UMaine. They
were showing international students, LGBTQ students, and others who
experience prejudice and hate that UMaine wants them. We made some
good signs. I held mine on the bridge leading to UMaine for 5 hours
today. Traffic was crazy--literally thousands of vehicles. I got no
bad reactions--just good ones like waves, thumbs ups, peeps taking
pictures with smart phones...
A great big shout out goes out to the Orono fire and police
departments and my fellow sign makers and displayers.
jules hathaway


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