Children's and Youth Literature

TWU Libraries has several children’s collections related to youth literature for students, faculty, staff, and the public to explore. These collections are resources that encourage the continued development of lifelong love and appreciation of reading and learning. These resources include diverse, culturally authentic books, toys, artwork, microfiche, and digital items that allow individuals to meet people like themselves and develop an appreciation for their culture's beauty and others' cultures.

• The Jimmie Lyn Harris Children's Literature Collection is located on the 1st floor of Blagg-Huey Library and comprises over 58,000 books. These titles are a selection of physical materials that are available for checkout. It is open during all library hours and is cataloged and shelved using Library of Congress call numbers. This collection includes board, picture, early reader, chapter, middle grade, young adult, graphic, and non-fiction titles. These books encompass materials published in hardcover, paperback, board, oversized, large-print, and pop-up formats.

• The Children's Historical Collection is a rare book collection consisting of approximately 5,000 rare, vintage and out-of-print titles. These resources are for scholarly study and teaching children's literature of the twentieth century feature classic children's works, including works of notable authors and illustrators of the 18th, 19th, and 20th, centuries. These acquisitions include a rare edition of Pilgrim's Progress, a 1777 New England Primer, and an 1898 edition of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.

Note: you can view this collection online at Children's Collection Digital Archive.

These materials reside on the second floor in the Blagg-Huey Library's Special Collections and are available by contacting that department directly through email: womenshistory@twu.edu or phone: (940) 898-3751.  For needed research assistance with the Woman’s Collection, you can utilize the Children's Historical Digital Archive online form.

• The Dr. Ann Stuart Children's Collection consists of childhood photographs, dolls, books, dishes, letters, and other miscellaneous artifacts from the 10th president and first chancellor of Texas Woman's University,  Dr. Ann Stuart. This collection is memorabilia from her childhood, including some classic children's books. It is an addition to our Special Collections & University Archives and is on display in cabinets found on the 1st floor of Blagg-Huey Library near the children's collection area.

• The Clarabel Tanner Collection of Children's Book Art includes 11 original works by winners of the prestigious Caldecott award, eight pieces by Caldecott award runner-up illustrators, and an original 19th-century woodcut by the master himself Randolph Caldecott. Clarabel Tanner (1918-2013) was a distinguished TWU alumna who had a long and vital career as a school librarian. The physical artwork is on framed display on the 1st floor of Blagg-Huey Library near the children's collection area.

Note: you can view this collection online at Clarabel Tanner Digital Archive.

• Martin Kling Targeted Reading Collection is a microfiche collection of critically reviewed children's reading research that comprises 900 references indexed by author and subject and includes a bibliography of all research reviewed and the annotated author, subject, and citation indexes on cards. Locating this material is accomplished by searching the TWU Universal catalog for you can view this collection online at  Martin Kling Targeted Reading Collection.

• Opie Collection of Children's Literature on Microfiche covers the 16th to 20th centuries and is considered one of the most comprehensive collections of children's literature. This collection is organized into units by book type and is particularly valuable to researchers of literature, history, developmental psychology, linguistics, sociology, early childhood education, and related disciplines. Included are bibliographic access for each unit and a cumulative index. The collection preserves early chapbooks, battledores (two or three-page primers), and card-covered toy books; comics, children's magazines, and penny dreadfuls (Victorian serials for children); and bound volumes of children's stories and nursery rhymes, books on games, and amusements, picture books, movable books, reversible books, rag books, miniatures, and other items.

• The Pioneras Collection (Professional Improvement through Optimization of Native-language Education and the Realization of Academic/familial Symbiosis)  contains a variety of elementary and middle-grade bilingual books, primarily utilized by the College of Professional Education,  to assist Spanish dominant English Language Learners' language, literacy, and academic achievement in schools with dual-language programs. These books can be located on the 1st floor of Blagg-Huey Library near the Jimmie Lyn Harris Children's Collection area.

• William S. Gray Research Collection in Reading is a microfiche collection from the Alvina Treut Burrows Institute of 10,000 titles on reading topics assembled by William S. Gray and other specialists. This research is from journals, books, research reports, and other monographs published between 1884 and 1989. This collection relates to the Annual Summary of Investigations Relating to Reading and published in various places since 1900. This collection includes annotated author, chronological, subject, alphabetical, and category indexes in a binder, as well as an introduction to the collection. Locating this material is accomplished by searching TWU Universal.online for  William S. Gray Research Collection in Reading.