Pratt Institute

Education

B.A., Canisius College;
M.L.S., Pratt Institute

Biography

Library Consultant and Library Journal’s Editor, Collection Management. Formerly Director, Collection Development, Brooklyn Public Library Barbara A. Genco joined the BPL in 1975 and became its Director of Collection Development in 1998.

Genco is a Past-President of the Association for Library Service to Children (American Library Association/ALA) and has served on the Caldecott, Newbery, Geisel, Boston-Globe Horn Book, and Society of Illustrators Juries. She currently serves on the International Federation of Library Associations’ Libraries for Children and Young Adults Standing Committee, BookExpo America’s Conference Advisory Board, and the ALA governing Council. Genco continues to review children’s books and has authored over a dozen articles for professional journals. An interview with her appeared in the September 15, 2007 issue of Library Journal— “20 Maxims for Collection Building”. “Guilty Pleasures: Great Reads for Grownups, 2008” appeared in the January 2009 School Library Journal. Genco is an active member of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations). She recently presented papers at IFLA conferences in Rome and Milan

In 2000, Genco was the recipient of the prestigious ALA/Public Library Association’s Allie Beth Martin Award which acknowledged her “extraordinary…depth of knowledge about books and (the) distinguished ability to share that knowledge.”

Genco has an MLS from Pratt Institute (Beta Phi Mu) and a BA in English (Magna Cum Laude) from Canisius College (Buffalo, NY). She is a Visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute School of Library and Information Science. Genco has one son, Andrew Genco Rosenthal, a M.Div. candidate at Union Theological Seminary (NYC).