During the day while her parents worked, her grandmother, Augusta Fax (from whom she received her name) cared for her and told her stories.

Moore later berated the director of the library for not passing along the application, as she was interested in anyone who showed an affinity for children's work[7] In 1939, the branch began an effort to find and collect children's literature that portrayed Black people as something other than "servile buffoons," speaking in a rude dialect, and other such stereotypes.

Baker furthered this project by encouraging authors, illustrators, and publishers to produce, as well as libraries to acquire, books depicting Black people in a favorable light.

[5] Not long after that, she became Coordinator of Children's Services in 1961, becoming the first African-American librarian in an administrative position in the New York Public Library (NYPL).

In this role, she oversaw children's programs in the entire NYPL system and set policies for them.

[2] Furthermore, Baker influenced many children's authors and illustrators—such as Maurice Sendak, Madeleine L'Engle, Ezra Jack Keats, and John Steptoe—while in this position.

The books included should be ones "that give an unbiased, accurate, well rounded picture of Negro life in all parts of the world."

During her time there, Baker cowrote a book entitled Storytelling: Art and Technique with colleague Ellin Greene, which was published in 1987.

Her legacy has remained even today, particularly through the "Baker’s Dozen: A Celebration of Stories" annual storytelling festival.

"[15] Her legacy also continues through the Augusta Baker Collection of Children's Literature and Folklore at the University of South Carolina.