Children's Literature at UofSC Libraries
Children's books are in the Juvenile Collection of Thomas Cooper Library, the Irvin Dept of Rare Books & Special Collections, the South Caroliniana Library, the LIbrary Annex and online.
As you search, keep in mind older children's books might not have any subject terms at all while others may include "juvenile literature," "juvenile fiction" or "juvenile works" to help distinguish them. The tools on the Selection Aids page of this guide can help you identify books by topic. Then search Find It@UofSC Libraries. The Award Winners page has some built in searches of our collections.
After opening these searches, scroll down to see the results.
Creating your own searches for children's books? Two strategies to narrow your results
Want to find articles and other information aimed at a particular age group? Use the K-12 databases.
Reading Options
Sign in and Request. You are welcome to browse the children's collection on level 1 or you can request books ahead of time. Within 24 hours someone will retrieve the books and have them held for you at the Checkout Desk. You will receive an email once the books are ready.
Make an appointment to use books in a special collection. Due to the pandemic, access is by appointment only. Users are asked to register and request materials in advance.
Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library
Details on the Irvin Department's webpage.
South Caroliniana Library While the library is under renovation, user services are located in Thomas Cooper Library, Mezzanine
Online Books
Browsing the Juvenile Collection, Thomas Cooper Library Level 1
Books in the Juvenile Collection (Thomas Cooper Library, Level 1) are arranged by Library of Congress call numbers, just like the general collection. Get some ideas on what call letters represent your chosen topic with this outline of Library of Congress classification and go browse the shelves!
*Note: Fiction books in the Juvenile Collection are the exception to the rules and have their own Library of Congress classifications which include some of the following:
PZ 7 – Most children’s and young adult fiction is organized starting with this call number and is placed in order by the author’s last name.
PZ 8, PZ8.1, Pz8.2 traditional fairy tales, folklore, fables
PZ 10.3 – Animal stories
Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library
Due to the pandemic, access is by appointment only. Users are asked to register and request materials in advance. Details on the department's webpage.
Nearby Collections