Children's Literature Research Collections

Children's Literature Research Collections

Collections | Use of Special Collection | Opening Hours and Contacts | Location Map | Exhibitions
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 is housed in the Special Collection at the Geelong Waterfront Campus Library and material can be viewed in the Special Collection Reading Room. There is also a research collection of children's literature held within the Special Collection at the Burwood Campus Library, Melbourne.

Children's Book Council of Australia - Victorian Branch Collection
This is the collection of the Children's Book Council of Australia - Victorian Branch. It includes Australian children's books in the first edition and all the winners, commended titles and short-listed books since the inception of the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. The collection contains over 3,000 titles and a further 50 titles or award winners are added each year.
The Children's Book Council of Australia - Victorian Branch Collection is held in the Special Collection at the Burwood Campus Library, Melbourne.

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 Burwood Campus Library, Melbourne. This collection can be viewed with a single search of the catalogue (click on Barbara Elkhorne Collection).
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 WATERFT 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)

Catalogue help is provided to assist users to search for material in the children's literature collections.

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