Marcus Crouch (12 February 1913 - 24 April 1996) was a British librarian and an influential reviewer of, and commentator on, children's books.[1][2]
Marcus Crouch was born at Tottenham in Middlessex and educated at the Grammar School there and at London University, where he trained as a Chartered Librarian at the School of Librarianship, University College.
He worked as a librarian in the Middlesex, Lancashire and Kent County Libraries. He was Chairman, and later Honorary Secretary, of the Youth Libraries Group of the Library Association, and Chairman of the Kent Branch of the School Library Association. He was Deputy County Librarian for Kent.
He is best known for his books Treasure Seekers and Borowers: Children's Books in Britain 1900-1960 and The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel 1945-1970. He was also noted for his Bodley Head monograph on Beatrix Potter.
He compiled and edited several collections of folk tales for children.
He contributed numerous reviews of children's books to Junior Bookshelf, the Times Literary Supplement, and School Librarian.
He died at his home in North Wales aged 83. He is commemorated by the Kent Arts and Libraries "Marcus Crouch Collection" of approximately 1,500 children's books published in the United Kingdom between 1830 and 1930.[3]