From the Trenches to the Writer’s Desk: Establishing a Collection of Children’s Books Authored by Military Veterans in an Academic Library

Abstract

Kansas State University possesses a collection of juvenile literature to aid Education and English Department programs. K-State is also the university with the largest military population in the state. It was discovered that several famous children’s authors were military veterans. Building upon this research, over 160 children’s authors who served in the military were identified. K-State Libraries NEH Endowment Committee funded the curation of a military veteran children’s literature collection, the only known academic library to possess such a collection. The collection enabled the libraries to provide outreach through access to the materials, internet resources, and special collections exhibits.