Baker received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933 and her Bachelor of Science degree in library science in 1934 from New York College for Teachers (now State University of New York at Albany).
Baker received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933 and her Bachelor of Science degree in library science in 1934 from New York College for Teachers (now State University of New York at Albany).
(Fairy tales from 15 lands; This book is a collection of "...)
Fairy tales from 15 lands; This book is a collection of "fairy tales" compiled by Augusta Baker, the Supervisor of Storytelling at the New York Public Library in 1955.
(Storytelling: Art and Technique is a proven handbook and ...)
Storytelling: Art and Technique is a proven handbook and selection tool that shows you how to select, prepare, and tell stories to and for children aged 3 to 13.
Augusta Braxton Baker was an American librarian, storyteller and well-known writer of children’s literature. She had worked at the New York Public Library and Countee Cullen New York Public Library for almost forty years.
Background
Augusta Braxton Baker was born on April 1, 1911, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Her parents were schoolteachers. Her grandmother, Augusta Fax (from whom she received her name) cared for and told her stories when Baker's parents worked.
Education
Baker learned to read before starting elementary school. In 1927, she graduated from the (racially segregated) black high school where her father taught. Baker received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933 and her Bachelor of Science degree in library science in 1934 from New York College for Teachers (now State University of New York at Albany).
Baker joined the New York Public Library’s staff at the 135th Street Branch as a children’s librarian in 1937. During the 1950s she was involved in several research efforts. In 1953 she became an assistant coordinator and storytelling specialist at the Countee Cullen New York Public Library. Baker worked with members of the Countee Cullen Branch Community to create the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of children’s literature. Baker also helped organize the children’s library service for the Trinidad Public Library in Port-of-Spain in 1953. In 1961 she began thirteen years as the coordinator of children’s services, retiring in 1974.
Baker also concerned herself with African-American children. As discussed in Black Women in America, she sought “to enrich the cultural lives of children, noting that the children who used the library did not know very much about their heritage ... She found few books that would instill pride in, or encourage children to read about Black culture.” Books about Negro Life for Children, a bibliography of the collection, was published in 1957. Baker edited a subsequent edition titled The Black Experience in Children’s Books in 1971.
During her career, she was also a visiting lecturer at Columbia University, hosted a weekly radio show called The World of Children’s Literature on WNYC, served as a consultant for Sesame Street and to publishers and authors, and critiqued children’s books for the New York Times. After her retirement, Baker became a storyteller in residence at the University of South Carolina’s College of Library and Information Sciences. Among Baker’s other books are Storytelling: Art and Technique (with Ellin Greene). She was also the editor of volumes such as Talking Tree, Golden Lynx, Once Upon a time, and Young Years: Best Loved Stories and Poems for Little Children (with Eugenia Garson).
According to Black Women in America, “Baker's aim was to assess the role of books in intercultural education and survey libraries around the country.”
Connections
Augusta was married to James Baker, but they divorced later. Her second husband, Gordon Alexander, died in 1987 after 43 years of marriage. Augusta is survived by a son James H. Baker III from the first marriage, as well as by two granddaughters.