Nancy Drew Here to Stay? The Challenges to Be Found in the Acquisition and Retention of Early Twentieth Century Children's Series Books in an Academic Library Setting

Abstract

There are a number of unusual problems to face when collecting in the area of popular culture. The study of children's literature itself has only recently come of age as a respectable topic for research and there are many preconceived notions about the intellectual content of this material, especially the series books. This article details how some of these issues were resolved when the Historical Children's Collection at the University at Albany, State University of New York, was added to the Special Collections Department in 1987, and documents some of the challenges to be found when attempting to assimilate this kind of material into standard library processes.