About me and the history of this bibliography

I have been a children's librarian for many years.

As I studied for my MLIS (library degree) in 1998-2000, I wondered what to do for my research project.

At the time, we were allowed to do annoted bibliographies - possibly a cop-out option.

But...

I watched my nieces and nephews deal with the deaths of their grandparents (my in-laws family).

I was part of a community that mourned the drowning of one of our children - four-years-old. Part of the community who had to explain what was happening to a group of very young children.

And, the bibliography was born.

For nearly 20 years, it has travelled with me, as I thought of how to get this information out there.

In the beginning, we thought about a CD-ROM, or hosting on my work's servers, somehow.

Then, technology moved on. I put them all on a free website - one which horrendous pop-ups and little functionality.

I used LibraryThing.

I used Blogger for other blogs.

And now, nearly 20 years on - I feel that this is the best way to get these books out there.

And it encourages me to keep reading in this area - there are SO MANY books I've wanted to review and add over the years.

Since then, I've been there as my grandfather and father died. And my remaining grandmother die in between them. I watched these loses resonate through my family, and have seen the long term impact. 15 years on, and my father's absence is a gaping hole in our lives.

I hope this resources help you and your community / family.