The Eastern Massachusetts Children’s Book Review Committee has been evaluating children’s books for over thirty-five years. Members of the committee are children’s librarians in the Eastern Massachusetts area, crossing regional and network lines. Sizes of library systems represented are as small as Carlisle to as large as Newton. The group of approximately ten members meets twice a month from September to May. Discussions center around consideration of children’s materials sent to the librarians from popular publishers. As part of the agreement made with publishers, librarians get to keep review copies after sharing evaluations with the group.
The Eastern Massachusetts Children’s Book Review Committee is always looking for new members. Members are expected to attend at least one meeting per month at various host libraries on Wednesday mornings from 9:30 AM-12:00 PM. The 2004-2005 meeting schedule is posted on the Programs, Events and Workshops section of this website. Members should also be able to arrange with publishers that are not currently represented to have materials sent to them. Interested librarians should contact Susan Raskin-Abrams, Supervisor of Children’s Services at the Newton Free Library by calling (617) 552-7160 or emailing sraskinabrams AT minlib.net.