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 Margaret Scoggin

Margaret Clara Scoggin was one of the first librarians to champion the idea of young adult public librarianship. She believed that “young adults,” a term she coined for patrons aged 13 to 21, are the voters and the library supporters of tomorrow, and therefore vital to the library of today. Scoggin began her NYPL career in 1927 at the Seward Park Library, and was key in the founding and operation of The Nathan Straus Branch for Children and Young People at the Library, which opened in 1940. Her philosophy around engaging teens heavily influenced the Library’s design and mission.

Margaret Scoggin’s Legacy

Reflection by Ricci Yuhico, Managing Librarian, Young Adult Services, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library

When I get asked about being a librarian, I always say that working with teens is by far the coolest part and the greatest privilege of my life. A flurry of faces and names come to my mind’s eye of young people that I have met through the course of my career, each of them incredible and wonderful—and I got to work with them, be their librarian, and try to help them in some little way. My job, and the connections and moments I’ve had through it, have been made possible by one Magaret Scoggin. 

Margaret built and fought for the very first library dedicated just for young adults with the creation of the Nathan Straus Library in 1941—and since then, the library profession has never been the same. Because of her advocacy and efforts, there is a nationally recognized understanding that having a library space dedicated to teens and their needs is vital and critical. Because of her, I was able to choose this career. Because of her work, young people have libraries of their own. 

Before it was ever even thought about, Margaret knew that the stories of teens, their needs, their voices, needed to be a focal point. She knew that this could not be done without a library just for them. The Nathan Straus Library that Margaret brought to life ran until 1951, and was just blocks from where we now have our brand new, state-of-the-art Teen Center at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library that I get the honor of running (though I can assure you, the teens are the ones that run the show). Now, some 80 years from when the Nathan Straus Library opened, teens have a place for research and studying, but also for experiences that Margaret herself probably never imagined: gaming, music production, activating their civic voice, and so much more. 

Though I’ve worked in libraries for over a decade now, no day has been the same—not even in times of loss, isolation, and social distancing. From pulling the right book off the shelf for teen patrons, to telling them I definitely am not the right person to help them with their calculus homework (but here’s a database with a live tutor…), and even to staying up until the early morning hours second-guessing my advice, I’ve connected with and care deeply about the teens I serve. 

It has been incredibly disheartening to enter a brand new library and not see or hear the excited, boisterous, creative engagement that I know could be taking place here, and I can only imagine how hard it is for our teens to not have their library at this time—many of whom were so excited, and called this place their home away from home. Once our public health crisis abates, I cannot wait to welcome them back. 

Years ago, when I first became a librarian, I had only hoped to be a good public servant for the community and for our young people, to guide and teach. As the saying goes, they have taught me more than I could have ever taught them. 

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.