Yolanda D. Federici was the former gatekeeper of the Chicago Public Library children’s collection, making recommendations that shaped the minds of countless young Chicago readers.
A librarian with high standards for children’s literature, Mrs. Federici worked at several branch libraries and was supervisor of children services at the central library.
For more than 10 years, she was the youth materials selection specialist for the city’s library system, reviewing new children’s books and deciding whether they should be recommended for purchase.
Mrs. Federici, 89, died Saturday, June 3, in Manor Care Nursing Home in Oak Lawn. She had Alzheimer’s disease, said her niece, Pat Surane.
“Some of the books they had in the library she didn’t think should be there, and she let everybody know,” Surane said.
Mrs. Federici particularly objected to Nancy Drew books because they relied on stereotypes and were “what I would call elitist,” she told the Tribune in 1976.
Friends and colleagues described her as a discerning judge of children’s literature who had read a great deal and disliked formulaic books.
“If you said something to her about that Margaret Wise Brown book that went out of print six years ago, whatever happened to that, she would know the entire history,” said Liz Huntoon, director of children and young adult services.
“She really cared that we were spending our money on good things for the kids.”
Said her friend and former co-worker Robert Baumruk : “I think she chose what she called good books or better books. The Nancy Drew books they could get very easily. She wanted Caldecott or Newbery books, books of a higher standard.”
Mrs. Federici also was a gifted storyteller, her niece said, and dreamed of writing her own children’s books.
“She always thought she’d like to but she never seemed to have time to write her own books,” said her longtime friend and co-worker, Lillian “Bunny” New.
Born in Chicago, Mrs. Federici worked her way through Roosevelt University. She was a librarian for 49 years, becoming a supervisor at the downtown library in 1962.
“She of course liked children and she liked books, and she liked to get the two of them together,” New said. “We were always trying to look for the right book for the right child. The important thing was to get children to read.”
Mrs. Federici left to become a consultant and editor for five years at Follett Publishing. But she returned to the library, retiring in 1982. She was a lecturer on children’s literature at Roosevelt.
Mrs. Federici was instrumental in starting the children’s book fair at the Museum of Science and Industry and was involved in the Children’s Reading Round Table, a group of children’s librarians who gathered regularly to discuss trends in children’s literature.
When she moved 10 years ago from her book-filled downtown apartment to the Washington and Jane Smith retirement home in the Morgan Park neighborhood, she reorganized the library there.
“She thought it was really lacking,” her niece said. “She thought senior citizens should be reading too.”
Mrs. Federici loved children but had none of her own. She doted on her nieces, grandnieces and grandnephews, bringing them books and taking them to museums and restaurants downtown.
She moved to Manor Care about two years ago.
Other survivors include her niece, Linda Norbut ; five grandnieces; and two grandnephews.
Funeral services will be private.
