Children's Literature Collection

A collection of published books and resources relating to children's literature.

The collection includes:

• Runs of around 40 children's literature journals
• Reference works such as "Children's Literature Review"
• Books on the history of children’s literature
• Biography and autobiography of children’s authors and illustrators
• Children's books of historical interest and significance, mainly from the 19th and early-20th Centuries.
• A number of newly published children’s books, usually prize winners, are added to the collection each year.
• Foreign books including contemporary picture books in Japanese and French as well as international translations into English
• Adaptations of children's books: film, TV and audio

The collection of children's books also contains several smaller collections, with some of the largest of these being:

• The Bratton Collection: A collection of 900 books, dating 19th Century-20th Century, deposited by Professor Jacqueline Bratton, a previous member of staff at Roehampton Institute London (now known as the University of Roehampton).
• The Sharpe Collection: A collection of books dating 18th Century-20th Century, previously held at Whitelands College within the Univeristy of Roehampton.
• The Streatfeild Collection: A collection of works by author Noel Streatfeild, dating 20th Century, which have been deposited by a private collector.
• The Street Children Collection: A collection of fiction books about street children, dating late-19th Century to early-20th Century, and deposited by a private collector.
• Hammersmith and Fulham Early Children’s Books Collection: A collection of books dated 18th Century to early-20th Century, deposited by Hammersmith and Fulham Libraries.

In 1991 the Children's Literature Centre was established at Roehampton Institute London (later known as University of Surrey, Roehampton; Roehampton University; and University of Roehampton). The Children's Literature Centre then later changed its name to become the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature.

In order to build a resource for the use of the Centre and for the teaching of literature studies, Roehampton Institute London began to collect books and publications relating to children's literature. The first books in the collection appear to have been acquired in 1996, with frequent acquisitions made thereafter from several sources. The Children's Literature Collection is held at the library of the University of Roehampton and as of 2015 is still being added to.

This collection is open to the public by appointment.

Appointments can be made by contacting the archivist by email: archives@roehampton.ac.uk

Alternatively, you may use one of the methods below:

Telephone: 020 8392 3323

Postal address: University of Roehampton, Library, Foyle Special Collections and Archives, Roehampton Lane, London, SW15 5SZ.

The Foyle Special Collections and Archives are located on the second floor of the University Library

The collection has been acquired by the University of Roehampton (previously known as Roehampton Institute London; University of Surrey, Roehampton; and Roehampton University) from several different depositors and sources. The first items appear to have been deposited in 1996, and acquisitions of further material have been made frequently since then.

The books, journals and publications in the collection can be searched using the Library Catalogue https://library.roehampton.ac.uk/home (choose “Special Collections” from the menu).

Further information can be found here: https://library.roehampton.ac.uk/archives

Some books from the collection have been digitised and can be found online: https://ursecure.roehampton.ac.uk/digital-collection/childrens-literature-collection/index.html

Description created in June 2015.

Since its inception, the collection always appears to have been held by the University of Roehampton (previously known as Roehampton Institute London; University of Surrey, Roehampton; and Roehampton University).

Items in the collection appear to have been acquired by the University from 1996 onwards, with frequent acquisitions of material made.

This piecemeal collecting means that the items in the collection have come from several different sources.

Particularly large deposits of material have come from:

- Professor Jacqueline Bratton (a previous member of staff at Roehampton Institute London): In 1996 she deposited 900 books with Roehampton Institute London, dating 19th Century-20th Century.

- Whitelands College (part of the University of Roehampton): This College held the Sharpe Collection, dating 18th Century-20th Century, within its archive. The collection was transferred from the archive at Whitelands College to Roehampton Institute London in c1998.

- A collection of works by Noel Streatfeild, dating 20th Century, were deposited by a private collector in 2002.

- A collection of fiction books about street children, dating late-19th Century to early-20th Century, were deposited by a private collector in c2007.

- Hammersmith and Fulham libraries: The predecessor of these libraries began collecting children's literature from c1931. The material dates from 18th Century-20th Century. It was deposited with the University of Roehampton in 2015.

Related material held by Foyle Special Collections and Archives at University of Roehampton includes:

• The Richmal Crompton Collection, containing her archives, her personal library and a collection of her published works for children and for adult readers. See reference code: RC
• The Froebel Archive for Early Childhood Studies, containing the records of Froebel College and focusing on the training of kindergarten teachers, research into early childhood and the Froebelian method of teaching. See reference code: FA
• The records of the National Froebel Foundation, a body to oversee courses for kindergarten teachers and to promote the Froebelian method of teaching young children. See reference code: NFF