Historical Children's Collections
An ALA Smore report from Caitlin Jacobson, June 2019
Studying Historical Collections
Why are these collections important, and why are they studied?
“Through children’s books we can trace who we are, who we have been and who we hope to become.”
The University of Washington has a wonderful page, History of Children's Literature that includes a delightful digital exhibit. The introduction includes the above statement about the power of children's literature. The page is part of the UW's School Collection at the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library.
The online exhibit, Looking Glass for the Mind: 350 Years of Books for Children, from 2008, is well worth your time. Especially intriguing is the section called "Behavior, Cautionary, Moral Tales & Verses". Take a look at digital image of Carry and the Candle, in which the disobedient child sets herself on fire - yikes!
The World's Largest Library
The tour was organized by the Special Collections Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Check out the Center's collection online to see a few of the items we learned about. (We looked, and took lots of photos, but didn't touch ANYTHING!)
The link below is for an interview with Children's Literature Center's Division Chief Sybille Jagusch from 2010. She's been at LoC for many years, and is a treasure to the kid lit world!
From the LoC blog about one of items in the collection:
The de Grummond
Check out the video below to hear more about the collection from Curator Ellen Ruffin.
What about you?
Are you interested in the study of historical children's literature?
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has a grant to study at the University of Florida. Check out the link below for more information about the Bechtel Fellowship.
About me
Email: Caitlin.Jacobson@k21schools.org
Website: Www.kgbsd.org/library