In 2024, The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature in Canberra is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2024 over the 11th – 15th of March. Not only will there be a birthday party on the 12th of March, but supporters are invited to visit the centre or send them a message of congratulations.
The NCACL was known as the Lu Rees Archives when it first opened in 1975, and they have been devoted to collecting, organising, describing and cataloguing Australian children’s literature for the past 50 years.
Over the years, the collection has grown and, at September 2023, it includes:
- 57, 546 books
- 5,577 translated books
- 79 languages
- Papers from and about authors
- Ephemera related to books
The collection continues to grow, and as the NSW Clipper, I do what I can to contribute to the files.
They have achieved this with help from authors, illustrators, publishers, partners and sponsors, as well as volunteer clippers in each state who send anything they find in relation to Australian children’s books in physical form or digitally.
They also have over 570 research files filled with collections of papers from authors, illustrators and publishers, manuscripts and artwork. The lovely team of volunteers welcome visitors during visiting hours, but you can access all their information online all the time. Send them a birthday message at ncacl@canberra.edu.au
Some interesting things to check out:
The significance of the collection
Congratulations to the team on this milestone!
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