Early Picturebook Review: Let's Meet a Librarian by Gina Bellisario, Ed Myer

Let's Meet a Librarian is a picturebook written by Gina Bellisario and illustrated by Ed Myer. It is schedule for release on Febuary 1 2013. This is a picture book that gives preschool and kindergarten age children a simplified look at what librarians do. It certainly does not cover everything, but gives a more current look at library work than often seen. Mr. Field is a school librarian, who shows Mrs. Rios's class how to use a library, and shows them some of the different, and unexpected, aspects of the library.

Let's Meet a Librarian is a pretty simplistic look at what a librarian does and how a library works, but it is aimed at some o the youngest library goers. I liked that the look at the library included an online catalog, ebooks, storytimes, play areas, an study areas. It did a good job of showing that there are places in a library where you should be quiet, but that there are places and times when it is okay to be a little loud and speak out. The books shows that most librarians really do have to know a bit of everything, computer and technology aspects of keeping the library going as well as the research abilities and stored tidbits of information many of us gather on a daily basis.

 My only complaint, as a librarian that spends a good amount of my work hours labeling and cataloging, is that the behind the scenes aspects that the kids might not see when they visit the library (mending, processing, cataloging, reserves, etc) are ignored. I know it is a short book, but maybe if children, parents, and their teachers that do not know about all the unseen aspects of library work went into each book they searched for, request, or check out, they might appreciate and visit their libraries (and librarians) a little bit more.

Let's Meet a Librarian is a simple and well done book that can act as an introduction to libraries for preschool and kindergarten aged children. Mr. Field, the school librarian, is portrayed well, with a widely varied skill set, like librarians n=really need to have at their disposal these days. A modern and friendly look at libraries and librarians.