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 (established) 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 two surveys of British children's literature: ''Treasure Seekers and Borrowers: Children's Books in Britain 1900-1960
and The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel 1945-1970
. For the Library Association he compiled an account of those books that were awarded the Carnegie Medal in its first thirty years 1936–1957 in Chosen for Children: an account of the books which have been awarded the Library Association Carnegie Medal, 1936-1965''. He was noted for his
Bodley Head monograph on
Beatrix Potter. He compiled and edited several collections of
folk tales for children. He created several nonfiction books on southeastern England including some illustrated with his own photographs. Crouch contributed numerous reviews of children's books to
Junior Bookshelf, the
Times Literary Supplement, and
School Librarian. He died at 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 that were published in the United Kingdom between 1830 and 1930. ==See also==