Children's Literature Research Collections
The Special Collection contains a number of collections relating to children's literature, including the Children's Literature Research Collection, the Children's Book Council of Australia - Victorian Branch Collection and the Barbara Elkhorne Collection.
Children's Literature Research Collection
This collection started in 1985 with a donation of 1,500 children's books from Mrs Hilary Stott. Since then the collection has grown by purchase and donation. The collection consists mainly of 19th and early 20th century children's books, including Australian and overseas picture books, fiction, poetry and folktales. The collection is particularly strong in girls' and boys' adventure albums and material with an Empire theme.
The Children's Literature Research Collection provides evidence of what children were reading at home. It is complemented by the Australian Schools Textbook Collection which provides evidence of what children were reading at school. The Children's Literature Research Collection can be consulted in the Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library, Lascelles Building, Geelong Waterfront Campus during opening hours. There is also a small research collection of children's literature held within the Special Collection at the Melbourne Campus Library at Burwood.
Barbara Elkhorne Collection
Barbara Elkhorne was a Children's Librarian who was born and educated in the United States and worked in various public and school libraries in the U.S. and Australia. She was involved with the Children's Book Council and was an enthusiastic advocate of children's literature. During her lifetime she amassed a significant collection of children's fiction, non-fiction and book character soft toys. After her death, her husband donated her collection to the Children's Book Council and in 1997 it was deposited with Deakin University with the rest of the Council's collection. It remains the property of the Children's Book Council and can be consulted in the Special Collection at the Melbourne Campus Library at Burwood. This collection can be viewed with a single search of the catalogue.
Identifying and locating material in the catalogue
Items in the Children's Literature Collections are listed in the Library Catalogue. Material from the Collection has the prefixes:
DU ADPML SPCHL (Children's Literature Research Collection)
DU MELB SPCHL (Children's Literature Research Collection)
DU MELB SPCBC (Children's Book Council of Australia - Victorian Branch Collection)
DU MELB SPELK (Barbara Elkhorne Collection)
Waterfront collections may be consulted within the reading room of the Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library, Lascelles Building, Geelong Waterfront Campus. Melbourne collections may be used within the Melbourne Campus Library at Burwood.
Research Projects
The Children's Literature Collections provide excellent research resources for:
- History of illustration and art
- History of children's publishing
- Empire studies - 'brave sons and daughters of the Empire'
- Growth of nationalism
- Perceptions of class, race and gender
- Perceptions of cultural and social history
- Folklore, through lullabies, fairy tales, nursery rhymes
Exhibition
'Brave Sons of the Empire' is an online exhibition of boys' adventure books from the collection.
Other Web Sites of Interest
Children's Literature Collections (State Library of Victoria)
Children's Literature Web Guide
The Lu Rees Archives of Australian Children's Literature (University of Canberra)
The Children's Book Council of Australia
Dromkeen: the home of Australian Children's Book Illustration
