Founding the Heure Joyeuse children’s library and sharing a fine utopian vision

The foundation of the Heure Joyeuse children’s library after the First World War was seen as an unprecedented experiment that would be the first in a network of children’s libraries across France. Eugène Morel’s inauguration speech lent vocal support to the development of children’s libraries, as did other promoters of “modern” libraries, including Ernest Coyecque, Charles Schmidt, Henri Lemaître, Julien Cain, and Paul Hazard.The Heure Joyeuse’s first librarians, Claire Huchet, Marguerite Gruny and Mathilde Leriche, also contributed to professional journals on numerous occasions to describe the objectives and methods implemented and to spark interest in this new library model.
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