About+Us


 * Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS** I have been a librarian for over twenty years and I currently work for the New York City Department of Education as a high school librarian. I became interested in the subject of children's books about assisted conception when I met Patricia Mendell in 2003 when my partner and I were trying to get pregnant via donor insemination. After finding out that I was a librarian, Patricia asked me if I could find her children's books about assisted conception. I was certain that I could because research is my passion and it is what I trained to do. Patricia's own library of children's books contained about twenty books which was the exact amount of children's books that had been published up until that time and I used her library as a starting point for my own research. I soon discovered though that finding more books about assisted conception would be more challenging than I thought. My first stop was the Library of Congress, but I quickly discovered that there were no Library of Congress subject headings for "donor offspring." Thus began a now ten-year search for children's books that has led to the discovery of over 140 books around the world on assisted conception for children in nine different languages, and the creation of my web site Assisted Reproductive Technology: Books for Children. My other master's degree is in Anthropology. I can be reached at tovahsmom@gmail.com.


 * My Publications with Patricia Mendell**

Mendell, Patricia and Patricia Sarles (2010) “Where Did I Really Come From?” Assisted Reproductive Technology in Self-Published Children's Picture Books. //Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children//, Vol. 8 Issue 2, p18-29.



Mendell, Patricia and Patricia Sarles (2010) Who Am I Really? Donor Offspring Characters in Young Adult Fiction. //Voice of Youth Advocates//, Vol. 32 Issue 6, p460-461.



Sarles, Patricia and Patricia Mendell (2012) CAL Article, Authors Prompt New LC Subject Heading. //Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children//. Vol. 10 Issue 3, p27-27.