Children's Librarianship

• New York Public Library: Steven A. Schwartzmann Building
  Home of the “real” Winnie-the-Pooh, along with his four best friends. Visitors can look at A.A. Milne’s (the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) original stuffed animals, which provided the inspiration for the whole story.
• Princeton University Library: Cotsen Children’s Library
  An international research collection of illustrated children's books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys from the 15th century to the present day. Open to the public.
• Toronto Public Library: Lillian H. Smith Collection
  Established to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of children’s libraries in Toronto by Lillian H. Smith. The collection includes creative books of literary and artistic merit, published in English since 1911, including picture books, fairy tales, fiction and poetry. 
• Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection
  The collection houses more than 85,000 non-circulating books published from 1837 to the present. The collection includes: The Kathrine H. McAlarney Collection of Illustrated Children’s Books, a Folklore Collection, a Toy and Moveable Books Collection, and one of the largest collections of primary source material for children’s literature in the country. 
• Los Angeles Public Library: Gladys English Collection of Original Illustration for Children’s Books
  A collection of over 200 pieces of art in various media, representing treasures from American children's books illustration, including pieces from more than twenty Caldecott Medal recipients.
• Portland Public Library (Maine): Portland Room
  A special collection of historical, and contemporary children’s picture books. Includes award winners, and many books written by, or illustrated by Maine authors such as Margaret Wise Brown.
• Library of Congress: Children’s Literature Center
  Assists users in gaining access to all children's materials dispersed throughout the Library. The Library holds between 500,000 and 600,000 children's books and periodicals including maps, visual and audio media and secondary material. Also contains a Maurice Sendak special collection, and the “smallest book in the world.”

This collection consists largely of illustrated books and primarily serves students studying illustration and children’s literature in the Communications Design Departments in the School of Design. The Humanities & Media Studies Department in the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences also uses the collection in their writing curriculum. Current acquisitions include titles considered to be outstanding by prize-giving organizations or publications, works of Pratt-affiliated authors and illustrators, and selections reflecting trends in picture book publishing, or those noteworthy for their graphics, techniques, formats or topics.

Items from this collection may be found both in the circulating and non-circulating areas of the library depending upon their rarity, fragility, and condition. Most of the non-circulating items were acquired when when Pratt Institute had an active children’s library and children’s librarianship was a major focus of what is now known as the School of Information.

Don't see a children's book you think we should have?  Use our Suggest a Purchase Form, and we will take your request into consideration as we make our collection decisions.