National Collection of Children's Books: Repositioning Children's Literature in Ireland

Abstract

Children s literature collections occupy significant and interesting liminal spaces: between private and public , national and international , instruction and knowledge , history and possibility , and archaeology and architecture . Although increasingly relevant as literary, educational, and cultural resources, no central mechanism for researchers to simultaneously search for and explore children s books across the various collections held in Dublin s libraries existed until 2015. This represented a significant barrier to the development of research in the area, as the material laid undiscovered and under-researched. The National Collection of Children's Books (NCCB) Project created an online open-access platform with information on over 250,000 children s books in more than 90 languages from five Dublin libraries. NCCB showcases the cultural heritage that is children s literature in Ireland, not only by providing a platform and thus encouraging and facilitating new research, but also by featuring Irish researchers in its platform and publications, and by including Irish language material. Through its internationalisation activities and capacity building in Irish Higher Education Institutions, the project is contributing to the development of the strong Irish profile in children's literature research.