How My Library Grew By Dinah

We mentioned this video in the main article in last month's issue. Based on Martha Alexander's 1983 picture book of the same name, this brief introduction to the library for pre-schoolers uses still illustrations, accompanied by narration and music. A little girl named Dinah anxiously awaits the completion of the building of a new library right across the street from her house. When it opens, Dinah gets a library card, and receives a tour of the services the library offers, including the young people's department and reference. Our complaint with the program is that it offers an inaccurate picture of today's public library. No audio-visual materials are either shown or referred to. This is indeed ironic, in that an audio-visual program is being used to introduce tomorrow's patrons to yesterday's exclusively print-based library. Well made and well meaning, How My Library Grew by Dinah is, nevertheless, not recommended because of its dated portrait of a public library. (Available from: H.W. Wilson Company, 950 University Ave., Bronx, NY 10452.)