Children’s Literature
The Children’s Literature Collection consists of published 19th through 21st–century books for children and adolescents, original artwork for illustrations in children’s picture books, and a small collection of comic books. The collection supplements the Instructional Materials Center in Belk Library and Information Commons with historical literature and collections.
Named Collections
Elaine O’Quinn Girls’ Studies Collection
The O’Quinn Collection primarily consists of popular literature intended for early to mid-twentieth century adolescent girl readers. Series represented are Ruth Fielding, Cherry Ames, Vicki Barr, Beverly Gray, Dana Girls, Connie Blair, and Judy Bolton. Other titles include Campfire Girls, Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch, and Donna Parker. There are numerous related titles, as well as reference books. When complete, the collection will include the first 56 books in the Nancy Drew series. The collection contains many first editions and examples of book jacket and cover art.
The books were collected by now-retired Appalachian State University Professor of English Dr. Elaine J. O’Quinn, who taught courses about the literature and literacy of girls. The collection forms a significant theme within the Children’s Literature Collection and complements similar books already part of the collection. There are currently over 600 titles in the O’Quinn Collection.
Resources
Beulah Campbell Collection of Original Illustrations for Children’s Literature
Beulah C. Campbell Collection
Collection primarily contains Appalachian State University Professor Emerita Beulah C. Campbell’s personal files, her collection of original illustrations for children’s books (digitized and linked below), and materials related to various authors and illustrators of children’s books.
Digitized Illustration Collection
Collection comprises original artwork for children’s literature and picture books collected by Campbell. She used these illustrations by major European and American artists as teaching tools for her children’s literature classes. Additions to the collection have come from Ann Jackson, wife of writer Jesse Jackson. Over 400 illustrations.
Book Collection
Books associated with the original illustrations. Over 140 titles.
Comic Book Collection
Comic books in Special Collections fall into three main areas:
Golden Age Comics (circa 1938–circa 1946)
The Historical Children’s Literature collection includes over 80 comics from this period, and extending through the end of the 1940s. The largest concentrations of comics include DC Comics (Superman, Batman) and Fawcett (Captain Marvel), and many other Fawcett comics. Detailed descriptions (PDF) of the comics are available.
Women and Girls’ Comics
The Elaine J. O’Quinn Collection includes over 15 comics from the 1960s through the 1980s intended for adolescent girl audiences, such as Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Archie’s Girls Bettie and Veronica. Additional comics starring women are part of the Golden Age Comics above. Descriptions of the comics in the O’Quinn Collection are available in the collection bibliography under the heading “Comics.”
Hawthorne Comics
The John and Marjorie Idol Hawthorne Collection includes a handful of comics that portray novels by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Titles include The House of the Seven Gables and Twice Told Tales.
Mary Peacock Douglas Collection
Books related to education that were owned by Mary Peacock Douglas, a nationally-known school librarian and former member of the Appalachian State University Library Science department. Her children’s Christmas book collection formed the basis of the Historical Children’s Literature Collection, although they are not identified as part of this collection in the Library’s catalog. 38 titles. The Mary Peacock Douglas Papers are available in the University Archives.
Mary E. Lyons Papers, 1985-2008
Mary E. Lyons is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books for children. Lyons’ historical and biographical works delve into the lives of marginalized people in history, from women to African Americans to impoverished Irish during the potato famine. Lyons has written, edited, or co-authored twenty-one books. Her papers largely consists of the research, illustrations, correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, and proofs of eighteen of her published books, as well as three that were not commercially published. In addition, there are articles, presentations from conferences and classroom visits, letters from students, publishers, and others, school curriculum materials that complement Lyons’ books, and other book ideas.
See the Mary E. Lyons Collection finding aid for more about this collection.
How to Use the Collections
Please visit Using Archives, Manuscripts, and Rare Books to learn how to use these collections.
History of the Collection
The origins of this collection are intertwined with the goal of the founders of the university to train teachers to serve the region’s schools. Consequently, librarians began to buy children’s textbooks and story books to support teacher instruction. In 1934 a young librarian, Allie Austin (Hodgin) was named head of the Children’s Literature Department. After the completion of the Dougherty Memorial Library a year later, the department was located on the lower level of the new building. A further impetus for growth was the establishment in 1937 of a training program for school librarians in the Education Department (now the Reich College of Education). The program was an immediate success thanks in part to the efforts of Mary Peacock Douglas, North Carolina Department of Education’s Supervisor of School Libraries. Mrs. Douglas regularly taught school librarianship at Appalachian during summer sessions in the 1950s and 1960s. Following her death in 1987, ASU received her personal collection of children’s Christmas books.
The books given by Mary Peacock Douglas formed the core for the Children’s Literature Collection. They were maintained by the director of the Instructional Materials Center (IMC), Pat Farthing, in her office until the completion of the new library. Mrs. Farthing supplemented the collection with books withdrawn from the IMC collection because of their age and value, and through gifts. Her selection efforts were aided by Susan Golden (now retired), a Collection Development librarian with considerable expertise in children’s literature. In 2005 the collection was transferred to Special Collections where it forms an important part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts unit.