New home for the Center for Children’s Books

The Center for Children’s Books is one of the featured projects in Orange & Blue Week, the crowdfunding campaign being launched at the University of Illinois on March 3.

The Center for Children's Books (CCB) at the iSchool is a crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training, and educational outreach related to youth-focused resources, literature, and librarianship. The Center houses a non-circulating research collection of children’s and young adult books, with emphasis placed on books published within the last two years. Last year, the CCB moved to a new home in the iSchool building at 501 East Daniel Street. Formerly housed in the basement, the Center relocated upstairs to a large space on the second floor. Professor and Director Sara L. Schwebel and Assistant Director Suzan Alteri discuss what was involved in the move and describe their new, colorful quarters. 

Why did the CCB move to a new location?

Schwebel: Historically, children's rooms in public libraries were placed in the basement. Many see this space as less-than-desirable and therefore a reflection of attitudes that devalued children. When the iSchool had the opportunity to rethink space usage, the youth services faculty met to talk about shared vision. The desire to move out of the basement came across loud and clear. Our new location is bright, sunny, and easy to find. It also provides a better, drier environment for our books. We look forward to welcoming visitors!

What was involved in the move?

Alteri: The move was quite a process. The Center has always been staffed by a fabulous group of graduate assistants who have helped in all our activities, and this was no exception. The GAs worked with Gennye Varvel at the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) in the Main Library to pull books from the Center's historical collection and transfer them to SSHEL—and if warranted, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. This was a monumental task and took the better part of two years. Next, we had to brainstorm and design the new location on the second floor. After getting input from youth services faculty, the CCB staff thought carefully about who would use the collection and what would most benefit iSchool students, faculty, and staff. Once we had a blueprint, we worked with Tad Schroeder [assistant director of facilities] to order new furniture that fit our mission. It was fun to see the second-floor space come together, and now we're just so excited to share it with people.

Tell me about the new location.

Alteri: It's very welcoming to all ages. We have a child-friendly activity station and bright, soft seating. We have three large rotating displays for new books, and most of our furniture is modular, so the layout lends itself to creativity and collaboration. We have 1,795 different books for ages 0-18, mostly from 2022 onward. It's a great place to come and look at all the newly published books to include in classrooms and libraries.