A guided tour of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature

In part 1 of this series on the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature, Dr Belle Alderman gave us a brief history of the Centre. In the below video (part 2), Dr Alderman gives us a guided tour around part of the Centre. She shows us some of the amazing collection of Australian literature for children, associated artwork and other materials collected for posterity.

Dr Belle Alderman and her team of volunteers at the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature perform vital work collecting Australia’s literary culture.

The Centre is in dire need of funding to secure suitable premises; much of the collection is in storage because there is insufficient room to shelve the books. Also, art is mostly in storage instead of on display although the Centre makes excellent use of its opportunities to exhibit portions of the collection where possible. I’d like to see a purpose-built Centre with more books shelved rather than stashed in boxes and permanent exhibition spaces displaying gorgeous artwork produced for children’s books.

Let’s make museums and literature fun, with spaces aimed at children, creating a life-long love of reading.

The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature is on Twitter and has a website.

Related:

Introducing the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Rare Books in the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Publishers’ Archives in the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature