From: 


 

 
Guardians 
By Jacqueline Snider, Editor 
 
Not often does a renowned Medievalist tackle the topic 
of children’s literature and examine the genre in both 
historical and personal terms. In addition, committees 
such as those dispensing the National Book Critics 
Circle Award and the Truman Capote Award for 
Literary Criticism recognized Seth Lerer’s book, 
Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to 
Harry Potter, describing the work as an “intellectual 
autobiography.”  
 
Lerer’s chapter on literary prizes specifically the 
Newbery Award, the American Library Association, and 
libraries, for the most part, is complementary. He 
describes librarians as “guardians of literacy and culture 
for the young, and into this culture of guardianship came 

another, central feature of early twentieth-century life” 
(p. 276). 
 
The articles in this issue of Education Libraries expand 
upon the concept of librarians as guardians. We learn 
how a school librarian helps students develop research 
skills; and how academic librarians design better 
learning commons for their students, help improve 
student retention rates, and adopt new roles as professor-
librarians. As these articles demonstrate, our profession 
changes, influences, and commands an integral role in 
our educational institutions. 
 
Lerer, S. (2008). Children’s Literature: A Reader’s 
History from Aesop to Harry Potter. Chicago: The 
University of Chicago Press.  

 
 

Photograph of Taos County, New Mexico. Children crowd into the Harwood Branch Library after school at Ranchos. I . . ., 
12/1941 (Courtesy of The National Archives) 

 
 
Education Libraries (ISSN 0148-1061) is a publication of the 
Education Division, Special Libraries Association. It is published 
two times a year (Summer/Winter). Issues of Education Libraries 
are available in full-text from 2004 to the present on the SLA 
Education Division’s website at 
http://units.sla.org/division/ded/education_libraries.html. Education 
Libraries is indexed in EBSCOhost’s Education Collection, Library 
Literature and Information Science Index/Full-Text, and the ERIC 
database. Permission to reprint articles must be obtained in writing 
from the Editors (or the original sources where noted). Opinions 

expressed in articles and book reviews are those of the authors and 
do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, Editorial 
Committee, or the members of the SLA Education Division. 
 
Officers of the Education Division, SLA for 2010: Chair: Erin 
Lanham; Chair-Elect: Debbie Bogenschutz; Past Chair: Deborah 
Garson and Michelle Bagley; Secretary-Treasurer: Karen S. 
Croneis 
 

© 2010 – Special Libraries Association, Education Division 

E d i t o r i a l  

http://units.sla.org/division/ded/education_libraries.html