Children's Literature Collection

The Library has a small collection of children's books. You can view a list of these books through the Library Catalog, where you can browse through what we call Curriculum Materials, which are mostly picture books and juvenile and young adult fiction, with a smaller number of children's nonfiction books. The collection is also searchable via keyword. For example, you can use the Advanced Search feature of the Library Catalog and limit a search to just materials in the Children's Literature Collection.

Please note you are not limited to just searching for concrete objects or things. You can search for concepts as well.

In order to maximize retrieval, each book is assigned numerous subject headings that represent what the book is about. As the collection grows larger, you will be able to find a greater number of books on specialized themes. Please remember, however, that the Library uses what is called authority control to ensure consistency of subject headings in the Library Catalog. This means that sometimes you will have experiment with wording until you hit the right subject heading. For example, siblings is not a subject heading, but brothers and sisters is.

The collection is also designed to be browsed at the shelves. Books are grouped thematically. Nonfiction books are located throughout the call number range, depending upon the subject, except at call number PZ, which is reserved for fiction. PZ is arranged like this:

  • Picture Story Books - PZ 9.10
  • Wordless - PZ 9.11
  • Predictable - PZ 9.13
  • Alphabet - PZ 9.15
  • Concept - PZ 9.17
  • Math - PZ 9.17.2
  • Toy/Movable - PZ 9.19
  • Poetry - PZ 9.30
  • Humorous - PZ 9.34
  • Nursery Rhymes - PZ 9.36
  • Traditional Fiction - PZ 9.50
  • Fairy Tales - PZ 9.52
  • Folktales - PZ 9.53
  • Fables - PZ 9.55
  • Tall Tales - PZ 9.57
  • Myth - PZ 9.58
  • Religious - PZ 9.59
  • Fantasy Fiction - PZ 9.70
  • Animal Stories - PZ 9.71
  • Adventure - PZ 9.73
  • High Fantasy - PZ 9.75
  • Horror - PZ 9.76
  • Humorous - PZ 9.77
  • Supernatural - PZ 9.78
  • Science Fiction - PZ 9.79
  • Reality Based Fiction - PZ 9.80
  • Adventure - PZ 9.81
  • Foreign - PZ 9.81.1
  • Regional (US/Canada) - PZ 9.81.2
  • Formula Stories - PZ 9.82
  • Historical - PZ 9.83
  • Humorous - PZ 9.84
  • Multicultural - PZ 9.85
  • Mystery and Detective  PZ 9.86
  • New Realism - PZ 9.87
  • Sports Stories - PZ 9.88
  • Caldecott Awards - PZ 20.2
  • Newbery Awards - PZ 20.4

You can do a Subject Keyword search of all of the words and phrases above except traditional fiction, which is a category, not a subject heading. The Library also provides access to some Databases Suitable for Children.