A room (and books) of their own: Margaret Scoggin, the Nathan Straus Branch, the International Youth Library, and mid-century young adult literature

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Department/School

English Language and Literature

Publication Title

The International Journal of Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This article examines teen library spaces to suggest that the rise of mid-twentieth-century texts aimed at and responding to young adults was not simply a publishing innovation, but a result of transformed spatial relationships within public libraries. This transformation is exemplified in two innovative library spaces: the Nathan Straus Branch for Children and Young People, which opened in May 1941 as part of the New York Public Library system, and the International Youth Library, which opened in Munich in September 1949. Both spaces were shaped by Margaret C. Scoggin, Coordinator of Young Adult Services at the New York Public Library (NYPL), and arguably one of the most influential YA librarians of the period. Drawing on Edward Soja's concept of spatial trialectics – the dynamic interaction between conceived, perceived, and lived spatial experiences – this essay argues that the tension between librarians’ goals and teens’ actual reading practices within these spaces created conditions that enabled young people to assert their reading preferences and to influence the production of literature designed for their interests, ultimately helping to contribute to the rise of an emerging young adult literature.

Comments

A. K. Allen is a faculty member in EMU's Department of English Language and Literature.

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