The Northeast Children's Literature Collection (NCLC) is housed at Archives & Special Collections at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

. The purpose of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection is to preserve the history of the creation of our best literature written for children. Emphasis is given to the perception of children’s literature as a form of art over other educational or social intentions. Archives are collected to document the process of children’s book creation by authors and illustrators in collaboration with agents, editors, designers and publishers.

Beginnings of the NCLC

The Special Collections Department was created in 1965 to house, organize, protect, and service the increasing numbers of rare, valuable, and fragile items owned by the library, including numerous research collections maintained as separate units. At this time, children’s books represented a small research collection of about 1,000 titles of the period 1840–1920 with emphasis on 1860–1900, a period that had been overlooked by other regional collectors. Illustrated material was also of particular interest. In 1989,

Norman D. Stevens Norman D. Stevens (1932 - Dec. 15, 2018) was the director of University Libraries at the University of Connecticut and the author of ''A Guide to Collecting Librariana.'' He is considered one of the world's greatest collectors of librariana. His co ...

, Director of University Libraries, asked

Roger Crossgrove Roger Lynn Crossgrove (November 17, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was an American artist and educator who served as Professor of Art at the Pratt Institute and the University of Connecticut for a total of 35 years. He was best known for his monoty ...

, Emeritus Professor of Art at the University of Connecticut and Billie M. Levy to work with Richard Schimmelpfeng, Director for Special Collections, and Ellen Embardo, Special Collections Librarian, to develop the Northeastern Children’s Literature Collections. With this initiative, the staff began to collect the archives of artists and writers as well, to insure the preservation of every aspect of children’s book production – from the initial correspondence to preliminary drawings, finished art, dummies, mechanicals, proofs, galleys and manuscripts.

Francelia Butler

Children's literature was a hot topic on campus in the 1970s and 1980s, with the leaders of the field like

Francelia Butler Francelia McWilliams Butler (April 25, 1913 – September 18, 1998) was an American scholar, pioneer and writer of children's literature.Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

and

Big Bird Big Bird is a Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the long-running children's television show ''Sesame Street''. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow anthropomorphic bird, he can roller skat ...

, visited the popular Butler “kiddie lit” classes.

Special collections

Archives & Special Collections develops a core collection of award-winning children’s books by participating in a children’s awards acquisition plan. The plan encompasses standard prizes such as the

Newbery Newbery is a surname. People *Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver *David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot *Francis Newbery (disambiguation), sev ...

and Caldecott medals, a large number of multi-cultural awards such as the

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she w ...

and

Tomás Rivera Tomás Rivera (December 22, 1935 – May 16, 1984) was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through educatio ...

awards, and international awards from Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, and New Zealand. Published works in English by authors and illustrators whose archives are held are added comprehensively.

Manuscript collections

Archives & Special Collections holds over 120 archives of notable authors and illustrators of children’s literature native to or identified with the Northeast and East Coast of the United States. Significant holdings include the archives of

Natalie Babbitt Natalie Zane Babbitt (née Moore; July 28, 1932 – October 31, 2016) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Her 1975 novel '' Tuck Everlasting'' was adapted into two feature films and a Broadway musical. She received th ...

Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of 110 children's books, published over sixty years. She received two Caldecott Medals for her work on ''Chanticleer and the Fox'' (1958) and '' Ox-Cart Ma ...

Tomie dePaola Thomas Anthony "Tomie" dePaola (; September 15, 1934 – March 30, 2020) was an American writer and illustrator who created more than 260 children's books, such as '' Strega Nona''. He received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for his lifeti ...

Leonard Everett Fisher Leonard Everett Fisher (born June 24, 1924) is an American artist best known for illustrating children's books. Since 1955 he has illustrated about 250 books for younger readers including about 88 that he also wrote. Fisher was born in the Bronx ...

Ruth Krauss Ruth Ida Krauss (July 25, 1901 – July 10, 1993) was an American writer of children's books, including '' The Carrot Seed'', and of theatrical poems for adult readers. Many of her books are still in print. Early life and education Ruth Krauss ...

, James Marshall,

Richard Scarry Richard McClure Scarry (June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his ''Best Ever'' book series that take ...

Marc Simont Marc Simont (November 23, 1915 – July 13, 2013) was a Paris-born American artist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of more than a hundred children's books. Inspired by his father, Spanish painter Joseph Simont, he began drawing at an early ...

Esphyr Slobodkina Esphyr Slobodkina (russian: Эсфирь Соломоновна Слободкина; September 22, 1908 – July 21, 2002) was a Russian Empire-born American artist, author, and illustrator, best known for her classic children's picture book ''Ca ...

, Joseph A. Smith,

Cyndy Szekeres Cyndy Szekeres (born October 31, 1933) is an American children's book author and illustrator who has produced more than 130 books in the tradition of Beatrix Potter and Garth Williams. Best known for her anthropomorphic animal illustrations, sh ...

Leonard Weisgard Leonard Joseph Weisgard (December 13, 1916 – January 14, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of more than 200 children's books. He is known best for his collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown. Biography Weisgard was bo ...

Hans Wilhelm Hans Wilhelm (born September 21, 1945) is a German-American writer, children's book author and illustrator, and artist. Hans Wilhelm has written and/or illustrated over 200 books – mostly for children. They have been translated in more than t ...

, and Ed Young among others.

Collection development

The Northeast Children's Literature Collection's general guidelines for book acquisitions are to collect historical and contemporary books written or illustrated by individuals with manuscript collections in the NCLC; those authored or illustrated by individuals associated with the Northeast or the Eastern Seaboard; those by authors and illustrators recognized as important to the genre; those representing publishing or artistic phenomena such as artists’ books. The NCLC also adds works that complement existing holdings and contemporary books that have won major national or international awards in approximately 60 categories such as the: *

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

Pura Belpré Award The Pura Belpré Award is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. It was established in 1996. It was given every oth ...

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an annual American children's book award that recognizes historical fiction. It was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell, author of ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' and 25 other children's books, in ho ...

Golden Kite Award The Golden Kite Awards are given annually by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an international children's writing organization, to recognize excellence in children’s literature. The award is a golden medallion showing a ...

* Phoenix

External links

* NCLC collections guides - https://archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu/
Archives & Special Collections at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut Literary archives in the United States Special collections libraries in the United States