School of Information Sciences

Interview with Yang Luo: Toward a History of Children's Libraries in China, 1912-1937

GSLIS PhD student Yang Luo successfully defended her dissertation proposal last spring and promptly left on a trip to China for field research over the summer. The CCB was excited to find the opportunity to meet with Luo and to talk about her research and trip.

“My research is on the history of children’s libraries in China. I’m specifically looking at the time period from 1912-1937,” says Luo about her research. “I’m interested in the development and genesis of children’s libraries during this time, and my initial investigation has found several factors during this time period—modern education reform, the public library movement, the Republic’s investment in child welfare, influence of Western librarianship, the appearance of children’s rooms and children’s literature—that converge to form children’s libraries in the early twentieth century.” Luo sees this research as filling in a gap in the historical record: “There’s practically no historical work on the history of children’s libraries in China, especially this early on.”

During her trip, Luo had hoped to visit five libraries, but ended up only visiting four. She had hoped to access these libraries’ archives to find information about the history of their services for children. However, “I didn’t find the archives I needed to do my research—these libraries didn’t keep archives of their history like libraries in the U.S.” The trip wasn’t completely unsuccessful: “I’ve found some internal publications—annual reports and things like that—that detailed main developments in the history of the library.” In spite of these setbacks, Luo has found some excellent opportunities for her research. She says, “I’ve been surprised to find American places that have kept some archives of Chinese children’s literature and libraries. There’s a historical collection of Chinese children’s literature from my time period at Princeton, and the ALA archives here have some information that’s been useful.”

For people interested in doing research, Luo offers a few suggestions: “Building connections to the material you’re studying is important. Take classes, go to seminars, show up to discussion groups, and go to conferences. Know what’s going on out there in your field so that you can build those kinds of connections.”

Luo remains hopeful that she’ll continue to find the information that she needs and hopes that the history she’s working on will be relevant. “As China pays more attention to youth services today—we’re seeing more programs and libraries for young people being opened—I hope my research will answer the first question we should ask: ‘Where did we come from? How did we get here?’”

For the full interview, check out the Interview with Yang Luo page in the research section of the Center for Children's Books website.

Interview by Tad Andracki, CCB Outreach Coordinator

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Yu receives 2025 Google PhD Fellowship

PhD student Yaman Yu has been named a recipient of the 2025 Google PhD Fellowship in Privacy, Safety, and Security. The fellowship program recognizes outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields, with a special focus on candidates who seek to influence the future of technology. Google PhD fellowships include tuition and fees, a stipend, and mentorship from a Google Research Mentor for up to two years. Google.org is providing over $10 million to support 255 PhD students across 35 countries and 12 research domains.

Yaman Yu

Olalere receives HSLI Jira Scholarship

Precious Olalere, a doctoral student in information sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Helen Knoll Jira Scholarship from the Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI). This award supports individuals pursuing education in library or information science in Illinois, especially those focusing on health science librarianship.

Precious Olalere

Student Spotlight: Daria Meshcheriakova

BSIS student Daria Meshcheriakova came to the iSchool with intention. Originally from Russia, where she lived for 17 years, Meshcheriakova moved to Chicago and attended Harold Washington Community College before transferring to the University of Illinois. Among potential universities, Illinois proved to be the best fit.

Daria Meshcheriakova

iSchool researchers present at ILA 2025

School faculty, staff, and students will present their research at the 2025 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Annual Conference, which will be held on October 14–16 in Rosemont. The theme of this year's conference is "You Belong Here."

Get to know Manas Godha, growth and strategy lead

Manas Godha (BSIS '24) learned how to connect "different contexts, people, and processes with data and technology" at the iSchool. He is putting those skills into practice in his work as the growth and strategy lead at Advaiya.

Manas Godha

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top