"This 14-volume set of sports biographies first appeared more than 30 years ago. It’s easy to see why it has become an enduring standard on middle- and high-school library shelves. The slim volumes (128 pages each) feature dynamic photographs and tales of determination and inspiration. Topics cover a balanced selection of men and women, popular and obscure sports, and historic and contemporary superstars.

The 307 articles are arranged alphabetically and range between two and eight pages. Each begins with a fact-filled introductory paragraph providing basic biographical and career highlights, followed by a lengthy essay that fills in personal details. These accessible profiles, designed to engage young readers, cover motivation, role models, obstacles, setbacks, successes, and triumphs. Many include direct quotes and do not ignore controversial subjects (steroids, discrimination, etc.). More than 1,600 color and archival black-and-white photographs (many full page) help bring these icons to life. The articles conclude with a summation of each subject’s legacy along with print and Web suggestions for further reading. Indexes sort articles by sport, gender, place of birth, and decade(s) of prominence.

The set takes the broadest possible interpretation of sport. Baseball, basketball, football, and hockey standouts are represented, as are notables in chess, horseshoes, exploring, badminton, and sharpshooting. The inclusion of extreme-sport (in-line skating, bicycle motocross, skateboarding, and motorcycling) personalities should appeal to the intended young adult audience. An effort was made to include individuals who were innovators, broke barriers, set records, or effected change. Athletes predominate, but other profiles address coaches and managers, a sportswriter, and a baseball commissioner.

This revision features 28 new profiles and 2 new sports (curling and lacrosse) and is current through December 2006. User-friendly features (fact boxes, record summations, trivia teasers) and enticing visual appeal will make this a popular choice for researchers and browsers alike. All public and school libraries should have this set available for their young patrons; those that own previous editions will want to update."

Booklist, May 15, 2007

"The eighth edition of this classic set of sports biographies continues to provide the information that students want to know about their favorite or historic (from 1880) athletes in a format that is highly accessible. Each of the 307 entries begins with a larger type summary and head shot that faces a full page photo of the athlete in action. Within the balance of the 4- to 12-page entry, standard biographical information is enhanced with additional photos and a career highlights sidebar. References for further study are mostly digital, making it easy for a student to learn more. Entries are alphabetical, but indexes also provide access to athletes by place of birth and decade of work. New to this edition are lacrosse, snowboarding and curling athletes as well as many Extreme Sports athletes. Sports fans and biography writers will use this reference set extensively. Help them stay informed with this updated edition."

Sarah Braxton
Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) Top 40 Reference Titles, April 2007

“Your products are so good that every middle and high school in the United States should have copies.”

Carolyn Nilsson
Halifax County High School Library, South Boston, Virginia

“During Black History Month, The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions is used in all of the 10th grade English General classes plus the Special Education classes. Even though your company may be small, the quality of Lincoln Library titles is outstanding!...Thanks for printing books that students will use!”

Carolyn Nilsson
Halifax County High School Library, South Boston, Virginia

“The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions is such a wonderful collection of sports biographies—perfect for our middle school students!”

Julie Liggett
Cedarbrook Middle School, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

“Our users have been fans of [The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions] ever since our first set dated 1981. The resource is used quite frequently because it is easily readable and replete with illustrations—the surefire combination that makes for a truly accessible reference for our students and teachers….and I assure you, with its updated format, the [seventh edition] will be more popular than ever!”

Loida Canlas
Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Washington, D.C.

"Lincoln Library of Sports Champions presents brief, alphabetically arranged biographies of 300 sports personalities, past and present, from around the world.  Personal Comments:   I love this set.  I waited to get it before I posted my meager sports list to see if I could recommend it.  I recommend it!"

Vicki Headley
Media Specialist, Kennedy Middle School, Cupertino, CA

“We find the Lincoln Library of Sports Champions set to be a high interest biography resource and its format appeals to students at a variety of reading levels.”

Anne Schaller
West Carrollton High School Library Media Center, Ohio

“I'm very pleased with The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions, 7th edition. Students enjoy reading about their favorite sports heroes and it's also great for research assignments.”

Darla Swain
Media Specialist, Brownfield Middle School, Brownfield, Texas

“The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions, 7th edition, worked well for our biography unit. The students found some great facts.”

Dianne Plager
Kellogg Middle School, Rochester, Minnesota

“We use the The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions, 7th edition as a reference source, and the Internet as a supplement. I believe in print resources combined with online, both for accuracy and ease of use. That is why I purchased a new set.”

Rachel Axelrod
Henry V. Burger Middle School Library, W. Henrietta, New York

"Our media center likes Lincoln Library of Sports Champions because it includes popular personalities from all sports. Our freshman class does a writing project...and these volumes become a good starting point for any student who chooses a sports personality for their project."

Deann Otten
Nashville Community High School, Nashville, Illinois

“The entry on Lance Armstrong looks great!”

Hedy H.R. Hustedde
Bettendorf Public Library, Iowa

“Our students like The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions because it is a single comprehensive source for information about sports figures, especially those who are less well known. We were happy to update our 1985 set with the new seventh edition.”

Loren Adams
Tuscarora Elementary School Library, Addison, New York

“Nothing works better for our students’ local sports biography research than The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions...and now that we see some of the athletes who have been added to the seventh edition, I'm sure we will be expanding its use.”

Judy Speedy
Gateway Middle School, Monroeville, Pennsylvania

“I looked for a new edition of The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions for our library because it’s been a popular resource for students doing biography reports for years. The new edition includes many of the current stars students are looking for.”

Olivia Grizzle
Northwestern Middle School, Alpharetta, Georgia

"This comprehensive edition contains accurate information, and each volume’s dark blue (back) cover features trivia questions that entice the reader to search for answers. The oldest athletes are from the latter half of the 1800s, including Cy Young (the man for whom the pitching award is named), sharpshooter Annie Oakley, and basketball’s inventor, James Naismith. Progressing into the twentieth century, readers learn about Joltin' Joe (DiMaggio), Smokin' Joe (Frazier), and Broadway Joe (Namath). Information on present-day neophytes Freddy Adu, Michelle Wie, Yao Ming, and Eldrick Woods, aka Tiger, is also included."

"Being a print biographical resource on athletes who have only recently gained fame makes this encyclopedia a preferred tool and steers students away from the Internet, a source that teachers often deem verboten for such assignments. Most entries average four pages, although a few are as short as two pages and others merit six, and photographs of each athlete are included. Even Annie Oakley's entry has three photographs and she is one of the oldest athletes presented in the entire set. The range of athletes and sports is impressively diverse, featuring Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh, motorcyclist Travis Pastrana, Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, bicyclist Lance Armstrong, and bowler Earl Anthony. Marked by a clear font, the concise indexes are helpful and avoid being worthless microscopic jumbles that do more harm than good for middle school students. Separate indexes by athletes' names, by era, of women athletes, and by place of birth by state (a huge bonus for that random middle school assignment, "locate and athlete born in our state and report on him/her") add to the value of the set. When weighing cost versus use, many libraries might find the price tag a bit high. This solid addition of one-stop shopping for sport biographies, however, will gain more valuable circulation as a public-access item rather than being doomed to sparse use parked on reference shelves."

Rollie Welch
VOYA (Voices of Youth Advocates), December 2005, p. 433.

The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions 1st edition review from the March 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine: PDF Version