Born and raised on the Wirral, Barbara Morris studied French at the then new University of Sussex, and obtained her library qualifications at Queen's University Belfast. Her working life was spent as a librarian in Reading, first at the College of Education (later promoted to higher education) where she specialised in children's literature and taught (briefly) school librarianship. When the college merged with Reading University she became liaison librarian for the Faculty of letters and Social Sciences. Since retiring she has worked as a volunteer for Two Rivers Press, a small local publisher, and at the Centre for Ephemera Studies. A lifelong choral singer she now leads a Singing for the Brain group, along with other members of the Reading Bach Choir.