Open Collections: University of British Columbia Libraries Launches Historical Children’s Literature Collection

From UBC Libraries:

The Historical Children’s Literature Collection contains more than 80 images of variations on classic children’s tales. Made possible by a UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) grant, this collection is a collaboration with the Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC’s iSchool, and the Department of English Language and Literatures.

Particularly strong in chapbooks and early Canadian content, most of the selected books come from the Arkley Collection of Early and Historical Children’s Literature. The Arkley Collection, donated in 1976 by Stan T. Arkley, a member of UBC’s class of 1925, and his wife, Rose, comprises more than 12,000 Canadian, British, and American children’s books, serials, and manuscripts. The digitized collection contains only a small portion of the entire Arkley Collection, with potential for future growth. Among the chapbooks — small booklets containing stories or ballads aimed at the popular market and sold on the street by itinerant pedlars or “chapmen”— are a number of stories that many readers will recognize.

Learn More, Read the Complete Collection Launch Announcement

See Also: New Digital Collection Now Online From Library of Congress: Classic Works of Children’s Books Published More Than 100 Years Ago (April 29, 2019)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Libraries, News