Mary Lanni is a librarian and book reviewer based out of Denver, Colorado. She has worked in nontraditional education for much of her life, first as a French tutor and babysitter, then as an Irish dance instructor, and ultimately as a librarian. She believes passionately in the importance of cultivating early literacy, especially as a way of improving individual lives and society as a whole.

She is the co-author of Early Learning Through Play: Library Programming for Diverse Communities (2019), as well as the author of Using Nursery Rhymes with Today's Kids: Their Legacy and Evolution (2026).

She has twice served on the Steering Committee of the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL), and she has participated on the CLEL Bells book selection committee, as well.

Besides her library work, Mary regularly reviews books for School Library Journal and Children's Literature, and she hosts a podcast featuring authors and illustrators on YouTube and Spotify.