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National Library News
January 1996
Vol. 28, no. 1
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A Visit to the Children’s Literature Service
by Mary Collis, Children’s Literature Librarian, Children’s Literature
Service
When they come to the National Library of Canada, visitors to the Children’s
Literature Service are directed to a large, cheery reading room on the fourth floor of
the building at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa. The room is flanked on one side by
large picture windows overlooking the Gatineau Hills and, on the other, by rows of
shelves housing the reference collection. In between are tables where researchers can
contemplate, study, or, perhaps, lose themselves in the pages of a wonderful Canadian
children’s book.
Although the books themselves are hidden away in closed stacks in the third basement
of the Library, they are available on-site upon request or off-site through interlibrary
loan. A researcher delving into Canada’s literary past may wish to consult nineteenth-century material such as Paul Stevens’ Contes populaires, published in
Ottawa by G.E. Desbarats in 1867, or Stories of the Maple Land, written
by Katherine A. Young and published in Toronto by the Copp, Clark, Company,
Limited in 1898. The collection includes rarities, such as the 1902 edition of Marshall
Saunders’ Beautiful Joe’s Paradise, published in Toronto by William
Briggs, and the 1908 publication Uncle Jim’s Canadian Nursery Rhymes: For
Family and Kindergarten Use, published in London and Toronto by the Musson
Book Co. Limited.
There are children’s writers -- Eugène Achard, Marie-Claire Daveluy, L.M.
Montgomery, Maxine (pseudonym of M.C.A. Taschereau-Fortier), Charles G.D.
Roberts -- from the early part of this century, and writers or illustrators, such as Julie
Johnston, Celia Lottridge, and Rémy Simard, who have published in the 1980s and
1990s, decades that have witnessed a remarkable increase in the quality and quantity of
books for children and young adults. A researcher of current trends might wish to
study novels such as Cora Taylor’s Summer of the Mad Monk (Vancouver:
Greystone Books, Douglas & McIntyre, 1994) for children aged 10 to 14 or collections
of short stories by esteemed writers such as Tim Wynne-Jones, or picture books
illustrated by such renowned artists as Pierre Pratt or Barbara Reid.
These are just a few examples from the collection which has grown, since its
beginnings in 1975, to include 28 000 titles, in French, English and other languages,
for children and young adults up to 16 years of age. A comprehensive collection of
Canadian works, it chronicles the history of the children’s book in Canada. Its
significance as a research collection is strengthened by a large reference collection,
international in scope, and by an exciting array of literary manuscripts and original
illustrations.
Specialized reference, research, and bibliographic services based on this wonderful
collection are available to parents, teachers, professors, librarians, authors, illustrators,
publishers, booksellers, independent researchers and lovers of children’s literature: all
are welcomed by the Children’s Literature Service. Their questions are received in
person, by phone, fax, or letter, and via the Internet.
If working with children’s books is a joy, answering reference questions is challenging
and stimulating. There are straightforward questions. One that is frequently asked is:
“Do you have a list of award-winning children’s books?” To respond, the Children’s
Literature Service has prepared up-to-date computer lists for 30 children’s book
awards. Response time is five minutes. Other questions are more demanding: for
example: “I need a list of Canadian children’s books with pictures of women flying
aeroplanes”, or “Can you provide a list of children’s novels with no references to lying,
cheating, anger, violent behaviour, dating, mating, or religion?” This one stumped me.
The best children’s books celebrate life and do not hide from it, all the while telling a
good story.
In addition to answering questions about Canadian books for children and young adults,
the Children’s Literature Service provides information about book selection and
children’s libraries. It offers advice to would-be authors. In response to contemporary
concerns, a list of children’s literature Web sites is now available on the National
Library’s World Wide Web service. Reading lists featuring Canadian authors,
illustrators and themes, including the annual Read Up On It kit, are available in print
and online. Future plans include an exhibition of original illustrations to be mounted in
the fall of 1996.
In an effort to forge closer ties in the children’s literature community in Canada and
abroad, the Children’s Literature Service also makes referrals to other children’s
literature organizations, libraries, and archives with concentrations in children’s
literature.
Within the National Library, the Children’s Literature Service is part of the Canadian
Literature Research Service, established in 1995 to consolidate the Library’s
commitment to Canadian literature. Aided by this new partnership and drawing on its
20 years of service to the children’s literature community, the Children’s Literature
Service looks forward, with energy and enthusiasm, to a future in support of Canada’s
rich cultural heritage in children’s literature.
For more information, please contact:
Children’s Literature Service
Research and Information Services
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N4
E-mail: clsslj@lac-bac.gc.ca
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