Butler Children's Literature Center
The Butler Center commits itself to imagination and wonder, encouraging and supporting adults in libraries, classrooms, childcare centers, and homes to engage young people with good books. For the latest news from the Butler Children's Literature Center, its open hours, and more, visit the Center's blog, the Butler's Pantry.
What We Do
- BCLC is an examination center for children's and young adult books published annually. Area teachers, librarians, and other members of the general public are invited to view and interact with newly-published books.
- The Center offers professional development in the form of conferences, events, and book discussion groups. Courses taught by the curator, along with other youth services-focused courses, are open to working professionals as well as MLIS students.
- BCLC houses historical collections of significance, including the Effie Lee Morris Collection of African American-focused books for children and professional resources; the Ellin Greene Storytelling Collection; the B. J. Kass Collection; and the Zena Sutherland Collection.
About the Center
The Butler Children's Literature Center was dedicated on January 10, 2009 in a program featuring Jon Scieszka, the Library of Congress's Inaugural National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and that day's recipient of an honorary doctorate of letters in celebration of Dominican University's Year of Youth Literacy. The opening of the Center's current location in the Rebecca Crown Library, room 214, was commemorated in September 2011 with the Kinship Project, the Center's inaugural exhibit, which showcased 29 books for young people that represent the theme of "kinship." In 2013, the Butler Center partnered with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to produce "Lincoln's Readers: Recommended Reading for Children and Young Adults." Since 2013, the annual Butler Lecture series has presented influential figures in children's book creation including Caldecott Medalist Ed Young, Jane Yolen, and LeUyen Pham.
The Center's collections are available to Dominican University stduents and faculty, as well as members of the general public including freelance reviewers, area educators, parents, and other adults interested in connecting young people with the best in books for kids.
The Center is administered by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science; founding partners include the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the School of Education, the Rebecca Crown Library, the Butler Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor.
Why We Do It
As a Sinsinawa Dominican-sponsored institution, Dominican University prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service, and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world. The Butler Children's Literature Center carries out its own mission as a reflection of that inspiration.