Location
The Center for Children’s Books
School of Information Sciences
501 E. Daniel Street, Room 211/212
Champaign, Illinois 61820
Hours of Operation
FALL 2026: August 24, 2026-December 17, 2026
| MON | TUES | WED | THUR | FRI | SAT | SUN |
10:30 AM – 4:30 PM | CLOSED | 10:30 am – 4:30 PM | 10:30 am – 4:30 PM | 10:30 am – 4:30 PM | CLOSED | CLOSED |
What is the CCB’s special collection?
Page Contents
- Welcome to your Center for Children’s Books.
- An open event space for UIUC collaborative youth services programming, workshops, research groups, & educational events.
- A youth services research lab for all UIUC students, faculty, staff & affiliates.
- Classrooms visits, consultations on targeted research and syllabus building inquiries.
The CCB houses a non-circulating research collection of children’s and young adult materials. It is comprised of youth materials published within the last two years, with a curatorial focus on books that accurately reflect 1) the a wide diversity of representation in youth readers and youth library users, as well as 2) highlighting the recent work and talent of contemporary creators and IS professionals within the children’s literature industry at large.
- Board Books
- Early Readers
- Picture Books (Ages 4-7)
- Picture Books (Ages 6-9)
- Middle Grade
- Young Adult
- Graphic Novels (all ages)
What services does the CCB offer?
Welcome to your Center for Children’s Books.
Here, youth community needs and popular publishing trends are united within a patron and research-driven space.
We house a living special collection of the most recent children’s contemporary literature at 501 E. Daniel Street, Room 211/212, carefully digitally cataloguing every 2 years of children’s publishing and trends as we provide access to them for our UIUC students and partner libraries. With an emphasis on diverse representation and real-world use, our collection is ideal for faculty and students across diverse fields such as Information Science, Education, Social Work, Ethnic Studies, and Gender and Sexuality, who are interested in contemporary children’s literature, service, advocacy and support. It also provides a place
Our operational hours are listed above; we have GA and library staff on site to assist you during these open hours.
An open event space for UIUC collaborative youth services programming, workshops, research groups, & educational events.
Get communicating interdepartmentally about youth services and advocacy in our open event space. Next stop, collaboration station!
In addition to our home-hosted events and year-long programming, we welcome any and all events that match the CCB’s mission of research and uplifting diversity in youth literature and services. Contact us at ccb-asst@illinois.edu to book the space and work with our staff to bring your ideas and research to a broader community context.
Find the latest news and updates about events, programming, and workshops at our Instagram. Be sure not to miss our annual endowed lecture (open to students and the public), The Gryphon Lecture, which hosts a leading scholar in the fields of youth literature, media, and/or culture every year.
A youth services research lab for all UIUC students, faculty, staff & affiliates.
Our space is your space: to experiment, document, and play hard to learn.
Along with the iSchool, the CCB is proudly joining in to UIUC’s 2026-2027’s strategic plan to assist all its future professionals in becoming space-makers and hub-builders. As of our 2024 move to 213/212 and our shiny new space, our special collection has been reformatted from a traditional researcher’s bunker to a sunlit, praxis-practice children’s library, where any department on campus is welcome to come learn how to support youth communities with practical and hands-on activities in a ready-to-go space.
Come be a mad youth services scientist in our lab space any time by dropping in during open hours, or scheduling a research appointment by emailing ccb-asst@illinois.edu. Let’s get brave at our work; let’s get experiential with our problem solving; let’s get into it!
Classrooms visits, consultations on targeted research and syllabus building inquiries.
Beyond the library lab and the collection, our staff are deeply knowledgeable educators and professionals in children’s literature.
Beyond the library lab and the collection, our staff are deeply knowledgeable educators and professionals in children’s literature. Assistant Director Suzan Alteri and Dr. Wallace McCraith Cornell are happy to assist in targeted research inquiries, classroom visits, and syllabus development. While happy to be tapped for any general questions, they also can provide insight into the following specialties:
Suzan: Indigenous children’s literature, graphic novels, historical children’s lit, diverse YA lit, board books
Wally: Queer/trans youth literature, graphic novels, medievalisms & adaptation, diverse middle grade lit, picture books
We are excited to bring a revamped Classroom Visit System to campus instructors and Targeted Collections Consultation offerings to local librarians in SP27-SU27. Watch our space!