In this picture-book celebration of libraries and reading, poet Giovanni writes about the Carnegie Library, which she regularly visited as a child. Robinson's digital art resembles vibrant collages and features a young Black girl with jaunty pigtails tied with twirly yellow ribbons. Her puffy aqua dress with a Peter Pan collar helps set the time period in the 1950s. The little girl explains why she loves her library: it's "a place to be free / to be in space / to be a cook / to be a crook / to be in love / to be unhappy." She thinks about being "quick and smart" but also "contained and cautious"; she imagines herself playing jazz and sailing. Returning home with her stack of books, the girl carries out her chores before going back to reading, wrapped up in a brightly colored patchwork quilt, the patches echoing the covers of the volumes she's reading -- so that in her daily life she is constantly surrounded by love and vibrancy. In a touching author's note Giovanni talks about her own childhood experience at the "colored" library, where a special librarian would get her poetry books from the main library.

A love letter to libraries.A Black child, with hair in two puffballs tied with yellow ribbons, a blue dress with a Peter Pan collar, and black patent leather Mary Janes, helps Grandmother with the housework, then, at Grandmother's suggestion, heads to the library. The child's eagerness to go, with two books under an arm and one in their hand, suggests that this is a favorite destination. The books' wordless covers emphasize their endless possibilities. The protagonist's description of the library makes clear that they are always free to be themselves there-whether they feel happy or sad, whether they're reading mysteries or recipes, and whether they feel "quick and smart" or "contained and cautious." Robinson's vibrant, carefully composed digital illustrations, with bright colors that invite readers in and textures and patterns in every image, effectively capture the protagonist's passion for reading and appreciation for a space where they feel accepted regardless of disposition. In her author's note, Giovanni states that she spent summers visiting her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she went to the Carnegie Branch of the Lawson McGhee Library. She expresses gratitude for Mrs. Long, the librarian, who often traveled to the main library to get books that Giovanni could not find in their segregated branch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter. ((Picture book. 4-7))

Poetic lines sing libraries’ praises in this brief tribute from Giovanni. Framed by first-person narration describing a trip to the Carnegie Library, spare verse builds on the phrase “A library is:// a place to be free/ to be in space.” Chromatic digital renderings by Robinson accompany the text, layering geometric shards of color and light. In one spread, the Black-presenting narrator stirs batter while the same figure reaches in through a window to take a cookie (“to be a cook/ to be a crook”). Another depicts a trumpet being blown alongside a blueprint-like depiction of the instrument (“to be blue/ to/ be/ jazz”). When the bookworm returns home, chores yield to cozy moments reading while snuggling a rainbow-hued blanket—an uplifting conclusion that’s aptly suggestive of books’ appeal. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

PreS-Gr 2 —What is a library? "A place to be free." A Black girl with her afro pulled into puffs, an old-fashioned collared dress, white socks, and black Mary Janes helps her grandmother with household chores before running off to the library to read, to dream, and to be fully herself. Later she returns home with an armful of books and helps with chores again before covering up with a quilt and a book to "read&30;to be another me." Poetic text and evocative, textured illustrations work in concert to show how books and libraries enable people to imagine other lives—including other versions of their own selves. In an author's note, "My Library," Giovanni describes her early library experience in Knoxville, TN, and her first librarian, who helped her get books outside of the "colored" library. VERDICT A must-have for school and public libraries; a joyful promotion of reading and where it takes the imagination, and the resources that support it.—Jenny Arch