1. Outline of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL)

(1) Establishment

Anxiety has been expressed in Japan that children are reading less these days.  In 1993, people engaged in Children's literature and the Diet members who were interested formed the "League of Diet Members for Children and Books," and started working for the revision of the School Library Law and establishment of a national library of children's literature. 

In 1995, the "Board of Inquiry on an NDL Facility to Provide the Use of Children's Books and Others" submitted a report to the Librarian of the NDL, and then in January 1997, the Planning Office of the International Library of Children's Literature was set up. The building originally constructed as the Imperial Library in 1906 (designated as a historic building by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) was refurbished in 2000 to house the ILCL, the first national library of its kind in Japan (the ILCL is a branch library of the NDL). It was partly opened to the public in May 2000 (related article), and fully opened on May 5 (Children's Day), 2002 (related article).

The year 2000, when the ILCL opened, was designated as the National Year of Reading for Children by a resolution of both Houses, and reading promotion activities for children such as "Bookstart" were seen across Japan. In 2001, the "Children's Dream Fund" was established to support hands-on activities and reading activities for children, and the Law on the Promotion of Reading Activities for Children was enacted. National and regional governments' commitment to foster children's reading has become common. The revised School Library Law requires school libraries to have a teacher specially in charge of the library, and local governments are formulating plans to promote reading activities among children.

(2) Basic roles

The ILCL was "established as a branch library of the National Diet Library that provides, through international collaboration, library services concerning books and other library materials whose main readers are assumed to be approximately eighteen years of age or less (Article 22, National Diet Library Law)."  It has the following two basic roles:

1. Works closely with local libraries of Japan and other countries which provide direct services for children and supports their activities, serving as a national center supporting research and study on children’s literature.
2. Offers services to children aiming at awakening them to the pleasure of reading and providing opportunities for familiarity with books and libraries, as well as contributing to mutual understanding among cultures. 

The ILCL has been providing services according to the above-mentioned basic roles since its opening, and about 360,000 people have visited the ILCL so far. The following paragraphs introduce four aspects of ILCL service: (1) services as a resource center, (2) digital library services, (3) exhibitions, and (4) services for children.

(1) Services as a resource center

<Collections>
Since its establishment in 1948, the NDL has been acquiring and preserving materials published in Japan including children's books, based on the legal deposit system the National Diet Library Law prescribes.

At the full opening of the ILCL, children's books and related materials were transferred from the Tokyo Main Building in Nagata-cho to be stored in the ILCL in Ueno (also in Tokyo). Overseas children's books and research and reference materials were added to the ILCL collection by purchase or donation. The total number of ILCL holdings has reached 300,000.

At present, 60% of overseas children's books are from UK, USA, France, Germany, Russia, or Italy. The ILCL is now planning to expand its Asian collections. As of September 30, 2003, it holds 12,000 books from 32 other Asian countries, including 5,300 Chinese and 3,300 Korean items.

Research and reference materials on children's literature
Books (volumes)	Japanese	Children's books		161,063
		Reference books on children's literature		13,053
		Subtotal		174,116
	Overseas	Children's books	Western languages	24,952
			Asian languages (except Japanese)	11,691
		Reference books on children's literature		1,471
	Subtotal			38,114
Total				212,230
Serials (titles)	Japanese	Children's magazines		865
		Magazines on children's literature		676
	Overseas	Western languages		61
		Asian languages (except Japanese)		33
Total				1,635
Non-book materials (items)				30,254
Materials for direct service to children
Books (volumes)	Japanese			10,989
	Overseas			237
	Subtotal			11,226
Serials (titles)				22
Digital resources (items)				148

<Reading On-Site>
The ILCL has Researchers' Reading Rooms reserved for users aged 18 or over. Children's literature and related materials published in Japan or other countries (approximately 100 countries) are available on the open shelves or delivered from the stacks. 

<Reference service>
The ILCL answers reference questions about children's books, research on children's literature, and library services for children. It provides holding information and bibliographic data, fact finding service, and introduces books. 

<Copying service>
The ILCL provides a copying service on-site or by mail (both require payment) within the limits of the Copyright Law so as not to impair the right of copyright holders. 

<ILL service>
The ILCL provides an interlibrary loan service so that both Japanese and overseas users can read materials of the ILCL at their nearest libraries.

<Digital Archiving>

• Union catalog database of children's literature
  
  Bibliographic data of 340,000 titles of children's books are provided on-line. The catalog covers not only the holdings of the ILCL and the NDL but also those of major children' s literature holding institutions in Japan such as the International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka (IICLO) (http://www.iiclo.or.jp/english/english.htm), Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature (http://www.kanabun.or.jp/, Japanese only), Sanko library of the Sanko Research Institute for the Studies of Buddhism (http://www.f2.dion.ne.jp/~sanko, Japanese only)), the Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Library (http://www.library.metro.tokyo.jp/1b/1b300.html), the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature (http://www.bungakukan.or.jp/, Japanese only), and the Baika Women's college/ Baika Junior college (http://www.baika.ac.jp/english/index.html).
  
  
• Digital Library of Children's Literature (http://kodomo4.kodomo.go.jp/web/ippangz/html/TOP.html)
  
  Image data of approximately 350 children's books published before 1950 are available on the Internet via the ILCL website. Though only the books whose copyrights have already expired are provided at present, the contents will be expanded with the progress of copyright clearance procedures.
  
  
• New arrival information
  
  Newly acquired books in the Researchers' Reading Rooms are announced on the ILCL website (Japanese books only).
  
  
• Information on Japanese children's literature translated into foreign languages
  
  The online provision of bibliographic information and translation and publication information of Japanese children's literature translated in another language will start in the near future. This kind of information was formerly provided by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY) (http://www.jbby.org/index.html, Japanese only) in 1990 and 1998. The ILCL took over.

• Picture Book Gallery (http://www.kodomo.go.jp/gallery/digi/index_e.html)
  
  The Picture Book Gallery introduces invaluable picture books inside and outside Japan in digital images. The ILCL edits the page and provides it online in the Media Corner of the ILCL (3rd floor) as well as on the Internet via the ILCL website. The Gallery has two parts:

  < The Picture Book as Stage - The Stories, Songs and Poetry of Three Picture Book Creators in Nineteenth-century England>
  Introduces three classic picture book creators of England with digital images and songs. 
  <Kodomo no kuni - Artists and Children's Books in 1920s Japan>
  Introduces the illustrations, songs and stories contained in the picture book magazine Kodomo no kuni [Children's Land]" during the first decade after its inauguration in 1922. The program is designed to highlight the art, the philosophy, and people's thinking about children at that time.

(3) Exhibitions

To provide more opportunities for children to gain access to books, various exhibitions are held on children's literature in the Museum, a large room on the 3rd floor of the ILCL.

The following are the exhibitions held in 2002 and 2003:
 

Lectures on exhibitions' themes and children's literature are organized from time to time. Also, the library hosts international symposiums such as "Children, books and reading: things to be done for children in the 21st century" and "From folktales to stories."

<Reading On-Site>
Children's Library is a reading room for children. The following are available for children:

• Computer terminals for children to search books
• Children's books that have long been popular and study references on the open shelves: 2,000 picture books, 2,000 stories, and 4,000 reference books, all of which are extra copies purchased besides the deposited copies
• Selected book zones of "insects and worms," "vehicles," "handiwork (craft, cooking, etc.)"
• Small seasonal exhibitions of books at a corner of bookshelves
• Library staff to answer children's questions and tell stories for the children on request

Children's Library A lot of families visit the library on weekends. Many parents are telling stories to their children.

The room Meet the World provides children with materials on the geography, history and folklore of various countries and regions in the world, picture books and storybooks about approximately 80 countries, and about "ABC" and number 1,000 books written in foreign languages. Under the spirit of the establishment of this library, materials that promote international understanding are collected intensively. Visitors can also see a display of books related to the current exhibition held in this library.

In the Story Hour Room, 20-30 minutes of storytelling or other reading events by library staff are held on Saturdays and Sundays: the events starting at 2:00 p.m. are for 4-7 year old children, and the events starting at 3:00 p.m. are for 8 years old and older. In October 2003, "picture book hour for small children under 3 years old" started. At this event, which is offered every weekend, small children can enjoy storytelling and nursery rhymes with their parents.

In the Media Corner, above-mentioned "The Picture Book Gallery," and about 150 titles of electronic publications including DVDs are available.

<Library Tours>
Users can participate in Library Tours for the general public on Tuesdays ("Library" Tour) and Wednesdays (Building Tour). Additionally, as the library is located in Ueno Park, which has a zoo and many famous museums, arranged tours are available on request for kindergarteners and students who visit the library as a part of a school trip or a field trip. In addition to guiding through the building, storytelling or study-aid will be offered if they wish, and staff may explain about librarians' job on request. To junior high school students who want to tell stories in schools or other places, staff talk about its importance and give a demonstration. 

<Events>
Various events are offered for children from time to time. The following are the events held in the last two years. 
 
 

"Let's make a picture scroll!" After listening to a lecture on picture scrolls and other Japanese-style books, children drew pictures on pieces of washi (traditional Japanese paper) and joined all of them together into a 30-meter-long picture scroll.

<Book Sets Lending Service to School Libraries>
To support the promotion of reading activities for children, "Book Sets Lending Service to School Libraries" was started. This service provides boxes of books on a specific subject to elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools. With the purpose of expanding children's understanding of foreign countries, subjects of boxes and materials to put in each box are selected. One box contains about 40 books which are lent out for a month. The lending service started with boxes of books on Korea in November 2002, and Scandinavian boxes were added in June 2003. Teachers favorably received the service saying that the materials made their lessons more insightful. The "Korean set" gained immense popularity as Korea is the nearest foreign country to Japan, and the year the service started coincided with the year when the two countries co-hosted the FIFA World Cup. From January 2004, boxes on global understanding will be added.

"Korean set"  Knowledge books on Korea and Korean folktales written in Japanese and 10 Hangul picture books are in the box. Children enjoy comparing the same story in two languages. A small booklet explaining the materials is enclosed for instructors' use.