In honor of Women's History Month, the Library is taking a look back at some of the remarkable women who changed The New York Public Library—and the field of librarianship—forever with our new series, Foreword: Women Who Built NYPL. Each week this March, we will be sharing reflections from our current staff on how the impact of these trailblazing figures from the Library's 125-year history are still felt today. 

About Jennie Maas Flexner

Flexner was an early advocate of the library concept of a reader-centered philosophy—a novel idea when she began her career in the early 20th century. She believed that reading the right book at the right time will foster a sense of satisfaction and joy in the reader, and that readers should follow their interests and passions as opposed to reading a list of non-user-focused titles, built with a “one size fits all” mentality. Beginning in the late 1920s, Flexner founded the Library’s Readers’ Advisory division, and was the organization’s first-ever official Readers' Advisory Librarian.

Jennie Maas Flexner’s Legacy

Reflections by Lynn Lobash, Associate Director, Readers Services

I am the person currently in charge of the department at The New York Public Library that Jennie Maas Flexner created in 1924: Readers’ Advisory. Flexner believed that connecting readers to the right book should be at the center of librarians’ work. She believed that providing books of interest that were specific to each reader, their background, their experience, and what they wanted in life would make reading a pleasure rather than a means to an end—and, thus, lead to more and more reading. Flexner was a champion of anyone seeking to improve their lot in life through reading.

I wish she could have witnessed the recent We Need Diverse Books movement, launched by a 2014 opinion piece in The New York Times by children’s author Walter Dean Myers. I wish she could see the explosion of YA literature that started in 2015 and shows no sign of slowing down. Or the same rapid growth that is happening in middle-grade fiction now. Flexner would have cheered at how genre fiction is no longer looked down upon but embraced and celebrated. She probably would have wondered what took so long—and she would have a point. There is still plenty of work to do around representation and equity in books, but readers are more centered than ever before. 

I am proud to say there is still a department at NYPL with the mandate of connecting readers to books they will love, and we are busier than ever. As librarians, we must surround each reader with books that speak to them specifically. When you find the right book for you at the exact right time, it’s magic. Thank you, Jenni Maas Flexner.

This is part of the Foreword: Women Who Built NYPL series.  Find out  how the Library is celebrating Women's History Month with recommended reading, events and programs, and more.