of others. These aims and values are reflected in the nature of the collections and
services offered by authorities, each authority having its own interpretations.
Library collections and usersWith over 7,000 new children’s books published each year in Britain, and several
thousand new audiovisual, computer and multi-media titles, selection is a critical and
exacting responsibility at the heart of the librarian’s work. Most children’s libraries have
created policies designed to reflect the needs of the users within their local community
and to support the development of a dynamic and pertinent collection. Nationally there
are several acknowledged deficiencies—reference collections, non-book materials, comics
and magazines—but in general terms, British libraries attempt to offer objective and
balanced representations of the best of British publishing with collections tailored to
support the variant needs of their users.
There are approximately ten million children aged under 16-years-old currently living
in Britain, and the public library service believes that irrespective of background,
culture, ethnic or social group children should have right of access. Central to this
philosophy is the belief that libraries have a responsibility to serve the whole child
population and not just current users who account for little more than about 30 per
cent of the child population. While recognising that children’s libraries have a remit to
serve all children, certain groups receive particular attention.
Historically, the most neglected group has been pre-school children, the under-5s.
There was an unprecedented growth in services to this sector throughout the 1970s
prompted by a marked improvement in the publishing of picture books and easy
readers, both fiction and non-fiction. The Plowden Report on primary education
(Department of Education and Science 1967), a growing awareness of the contribution
of books to the social and emotional development of the younger child (Butler 1980), and
the rise of movements such as the Pre-school Playgroup Association (now Pre-school
Learning Alliance), dedicated to non-statutory provision for pre-school children and the
training of their carers, were other major contributory factors. Children’s libraries
responded by developing their collections and introducing specialist accommodation and
furnishings for this age group. Some authorities appointed specialist librarians who
were trained to work with pre-school children and their carers. The provision of nursery
education is very much to the fore in current political and educational debate, and
although public service cuts have led to an erosion of some specialist posts, collections
continue to develop, reflecting the myriad of pre-school publications, from bath books to
CD-ROM technology. Among a number of recent initiatives is a major long-term project,
Bookstart. This was launched in 1992 by Birmingham children’s libraries and the
Children’s Book Foundation, and is designed to promote the sharing of books with
babies of new parents and to monitor the impact on the development of literacy among
pre-school children (Coleman 1994).
Many libraries have recognised the importance of housing collections of material on
parenting, child development, reading and associated subjects in children’s libraries to
support the information needs of carers. Some even hold small collections of popular
adult fiction to accommodate parents’ leisure reading.
616 APPLICATIONS OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE