The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, consisting of more than 100,000 books written for children since the 17th century, is one of the largest collections of English language children’s books in the world.
UF Librarian Ruth Baldwin established the collection in 1977 with her gift of 35,000 books garnered during decades of scouring bookstores, garage sales and catalogs. The collection has helped pioneer and support the study of children’s literature as an academic discipline at the University of Florida and in the wider academic community.
Among the collection’s gems are a 17th-century edition of Aesop’s Fables, the first American edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandand complete runs of series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
