The Elizabeth Nesbitt Room is located in the Information Sciences Library at the University of Pittsburgh and houses several special collections related to the history of children and their books and media. The volumes in this collection include more than 12,000 books and magazine titles of interest dating from the 1600's through today. The Elizabeth Nesbitt Room is located in Room 305 of the School of Information Sciences building. The hours are available on the University Library System website. To learn more about the room and its history, read "The Inside Story of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room" by the late Margaret Hodges, former Professor Emerita and founder of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room. To view images of displays done using items from the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room, see our displays page. Please select from the menu below to view information about the various collections in the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room and to access resource guides for using these collection. For individuals seeking help with assessing the value of books, please click here for assistance.
Index of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room CollectionsAmerican Library Association Children's Book Awards Best Books for Babies Dime Novel Collection
American Library Association Children's Book AwardsEach of these lists provides a chronological listing of the awards winners annotated with ENR holdings information. | Mildred L. Batchelder Award |
Pura Belpré Award |
Randolph Caldecott Award |
Coretta Scott King Award |
Begun in 2000, Best Books for Babies is an annual list created by a selection committee of early childhood and literacy experts that evaluates books based on age-appropriateness, quality of illustrations and writing, ease of physical manipulation, and interactive potential.Goals of Best Books for Babies are to assist adults in selecting books for babies, highlight the importance of sharing books with young children, honor those who create outstanding books for infants, and encourage the publication of more books for babies. This page shows Nesbitt Room holdings of Best Books for Babies titles.
Elizabeth Nesbitt Room Chapbook CollectionThe Elizabeth Nesbitt Room houses approximately 250 chapbooks printed in both England and America between the years 1650 to 1850. This finding aid provides bibliographic information as well as digital images of the chapbook covers to facilitate browsing while preserving these delicate materials.
While researching The World Treasury of Children's Literature, Fadiman accumulated a personal library of approximately 2,000 books from seventy countries. Upon completion of the book, Fadiman donated this valuable research collection along with some of his personal correspondance to the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room.
E. L. (Elaine Lobl) Konigsburg is author of the 1997 Newbery Medal winner, The View From Saturday; the 1968 Newbery Medal winner, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; and the 1968 Newbery Honor book Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth. She was born in New York, New York, but grew up in small mill towns in Pennsylvania.
Illustrators ProjectThis project provides an in-depth look at important children's book illustrators from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Isaiah ThomasIsaiah Thomas was the most important American publisher of the eighteenth century. He led an interesting personal life, published and sold books for children and books, newspapers, and magazines for adults, and founded the American Antiquarian Society. One of the children's books springing from his presses, The Only Sure Guide to the English Tongue, or, Perry's New Pronouncing Spelling Book, exemplifies contemporary literature for children.
Margaret Hodges CollectionMargaret Hodges was a Professor Emerita of the School of Information Sciences and the founder of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room. This collection includes papers, correspondence, interviews, drafts, research material and many other items related to Margaret Hodges' work as an author and scholar of children's literature.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ArchivesThe Mister Rogers' Neignborhood Archives contains materials produced by Fred Rogers (correspondence and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood [MRN] programs); scripts, props and other materials used in the production and promotion of MRN (puppets, eg.); books, records and other publications for children and parents produced by Rogers or his production group, Family Communications Inc. [FCI]; materials that reflect audience response (primarily fan mail); and materials that show the cultural impact of Fred Rogers' work (such as scholarly and journalistic articles).
Nineteenth Century Juvenile Magazine CollectionThe Elizabeth Nesbitt Room Nineteenth Century Juvenile Magazine Collection contains more than 85 titles published in England and America between 1802 and 1943. This is a representative collection of popular magazines children read for pleasure, religious instruction, and educational purposes.
Preservation/Rare Books PathfinderThis pathfinder will help you find examples in the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room which illustrate terms important to the study of critical bibliography, book preservation, and the history of books such as aquatint and fore-edge painting.
Samuel Goodrich CollectionIn the years following the American Revolution, most of the books used as text books in the new United States were published in England. It took the work of Samuel G. Goodrich to help tip this balance to American soil with the publication of the Peter Parley books which he wrote, beginning in 1828.
the dedication and hard work of many staff and students in the Information Sciences Library.
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