UC’s Hidden Treasures: The 50th Anniversary of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature
By Peter Searles
Right here on UC campus, tucked away at the back of ‘The Hub’, underneath the library, is the office of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL). You might have noticed several hard-working people in there, surrounded by shelves of colourful children’s books. What you may not know is that these shelves contain only a fraction of NCACL’s collection. In storage rooms behind the NCACL office and in other locations around campus, one of the country’s largest collections of children’s literature is kept and cared for. With 57,000 books and hundreds of artworks and author’s papers, the collection is estimated to be worth $12.8 million (AUD), and it continues to grow with each passing year.
In 2024, NCACL is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of special events that will bring some of the most prominent figures in Australian children’s literature to our campus. I met with Dr Belle Alderman, Director of NCACL, who told me that the centre has no paid staff or income streams. It is thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the generosity of donors that the centre has thrived for all these years, and the 50th anniversary celebrations are NCACL’s way of saying thank you!
The centre began in 1974 when Lu Rees, President of the ACT branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), put forward the idea that each of the state and territory branches of the CBCA could pool their resources and begin a national collection. The collection moved to UC in 1980 when it outgrew the homes that had stored it up until then. Since arriving at UC, the collection has continued to grow in size and significance. Today, many Australian publishers of literature for young people provide copies of their latest publications to NCACL as standard practice and artists and illustrators often donate their works as well. This includes many preliminary sketches for artworks. Dr Alderman told me that these preliminaries allow the NCACL to preserve and share the creative process behind some of our most cherished stories.
In its online databases, NCACL provides searchable information about its collection of books and artworks, as well as providing free teaching resources to educators. The collection also includes 500 rare books and 5,800 books in 79 languages other than English. Due to the scale of the collection, Dr Alderman said she can no longer predict who may be taking an interest. International researchers have used the collection for their projects, and here in Canberra, the work has been enjoyed by school children and studied by UC students in Cultural Heritage, Creative Writing, Education, and other disciplines. The NCACL also lends artworks from its collection for exhibitions at the National Library and other interstate libraries.
NCACL’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Events
Available now and through to the 14th of March 2024, make sure you don’t miss Never be late for a Parade, the wonderful exhibition of Shaun Tan digital prints on display in Mura Gadi Galllery in the UC Library.
On the 11th of March, acclaimed author-illustrator and seven-time winner of the CBCA picture book of the year award, Bob Graham, will give a seminar in the NCACL office from 12:30pm – 1:30pm. It will be a unique opportunity to learn about Bob’s creative process, including live demonstrations of his drawing techniques.
Later that same day, NCACL will gather some prominent figures in Australian children’s literature for a panel discussion from 2:30pm – 4:00pm in the Clive Price Suite in Building 1.
Telling Tales: Inside Australian Children’s Literature will include panellists Christopher Cheng (the award-winning author of many children’s books including Bear and Rat and One Tree), Ann James (an illustrator of over 70 books and long time promoter of Australian picture book creators), Eva Mills (Publishing Director of Books for Children and Young Adults at Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) and Sally Allen (who has been a teacher in the ACT public schools system for over 20 years). This will be a lively discussion that illuminates each step of the cycle, from the initial sparks in the mind of the creators, through to the distribution and teaching that brings their work to generations of readers.
And from 5:00pm – 7:00pm on the 12th of March 2024, there will be 50th birthday celebrations at the NCACL office in The Hub. The party will be opened by UC’s interim Vice-Chancellor & President, Professor Lucy Johnston, and will be attended by NCACL stakeholders and various creators and lovers of children’s literature.
As a special offer to Curieux readers, we have three free passes each to Bob Graham’s creative seminar and the Telling Tales: Inside Australian Children’s Literature panel discussion. Passes will be given on a first come, first served basis. To claim your spot, contact us at curieux@canberra.edu.au
We hope you will join us in congratulating NCACL on 50 years of success, and enjoy taking part in the celebrations throughout this month. For the full list of events, please visit the NCACL website: https://www.ncacl.org.au/forthcoming-events/