Kirkus Review
The biography of a little-known figure who escaped Nazi Germany as a teenager and, after a colorful series of careers, went to work as a cataloger for the Library of Congress for two decades.The first book by fellow librarian Stewart takes advantage of Ruth Rappaport's (1923-2010) voluminous diaries and letters as well as an oral history recorded a few weeks before her death, all now stored at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1938, then 15-year-old Rappaport, "a diligent, intense, bespectacled bookworm who questioned everyone and everything," boarded a train for a visit from her home in Leipzig to Zurich and then refused to go back with the mother who, like her father, would later die in a concentration camp. In Zurich, she was taken in by a series of foster families, one of which complained that she was "spoiled and self-important," while she waited to get a visa to the United States. A year later, she moved in with her wealthy aunt and uncle in Seattle, where she continued a heavy involvement with the Zionist movement that she had begun back in Germany. After years of dropping into and out of college and working for various papers in Israel, Paris, and New York, she settled on librarianship as a career. In Saigon during the Vietnam War, she was responsible for establishing a network of libraries for those in all of the armed forces. Then, from 1971 to 1993, she worked as a cataloger at the Library of Congress, where her first job was to recatalog a collection that included "pornography, erotica, race-track guides and other items confiscated by the FBI." Stewart is frank about Rappaport's prickly personality, her tendency to carry on with married men, and the idealism that led her to abandon one project or person after another. Those details, coupled with more admirable qualities like curiosity and drive, serve to make her an entertaining presence.A lively, chatty exploration of a life that veered in many intriguing directions. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Librarians, the stereotype would have it, are quiet and unassuming. Not so Ruth Rappaport. This remarkable woman found her calling in librarianship only after a life that included her fleeing Nazi Germany at 15 to live with a series of relatives in the U.S., losing both her parents to the Holocaust, working in the Zionist movement, and trying out a number of occupations here and abroad. Rappaport started her library career in Vietnam, expanding a system of libraries to serve the U.S. military personnel stationed there during the war, and she eventually worked at the Library of Congress, where she cataloged books in the social sciences for 20 years. Stewart, currently an archivist at the Arizona Historical Society, has combed through letters, diaries, personal papers, and other resources to create a wonderful, nuanced portrait of a singular woman whose life, though fraught with personal trauma, persecution, and political unrest, was grounded in an abiding love for books and reading and the solace they bring. An inspiring story told with genuine affection and respect.--Carolyn Mulac Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Stewart, an archivist at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson, begins her biography of Ruth Rappaport with her subject's idyllic childhood in Leipzig, Germany, in the 1920s and ends with her years as a Library of Congress cataloguer and labor activist. As the Nazis came to power, Rappaport felt unsafe as a Jew in Germany. At 15 she left her family and went to live with relatives and foster families in Europe and eventually the United States. Stewart describes the many years of discrimination, heartache, and unrequited love and pain she endured as a Jew, a stateless person, and a single woman. Rappaport finally found her passion: librarianship. The history of World War II, the origins of the Library of Congress and its cataloging system, and libraries during the Vietnam War are some of the topics covered. Christa Lewis does an excellent job telling the poignant and heartbreaking story of Ruth Rapport's life. VERDICT Recommended for patrons interested in the history of libraries, especially during the Vietnam War. Highly recommended for librarians who share Ruth's passion for disseminating information and who will understand the professional library references.--Ilka Gordon, Beachwood, OH
