Collections supported by The Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection

The Collections

The collections supported by the Friends are held by the National Library of New Zealand, and are subject to their rules and conditions. The role of the Friends is to encourage use, not to store or maintain the collections. The Susan Price Collection is stored and curated by Susan during her lifetime.

Access to the Collections:

You may request small numbers of books from the DNW and NCC collections for use in the Reading Room on the ground floor of the National Library 9am - 5pm weekdays and 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

To visit these Collections, make an appointment with the Research Librarian, Wednesday to Friday, or on other days by special arrangement.

All books in the DNW and NCC collections are catalogued in the National Library Catalogue

A small number of books from the DNW and NCC collections are accessible online in the International Children's Digital Library

Research Librarian: Lynne Jackett
Telephone: 64-4-474 3084
Facsimile: 64-4-474 3035
email Lynne Jackett (lynne.jackett@natlib.govt.nz)

Susan Price gifted her collection to the National Library in 1991. At present Susan Price curates it in her home. At a future date it will be housed at the National Library as an example of an individual's collection.
To visit the Susan Price Collection, please contact Susan Price. Telephone 64-4-475 8092

The Dorothy Neal White Collection has been built up almost entirely through donations, from both individuals and libraries. Offers of donations are welcomed, but space does not permit the collection to accept books on an unrestricted basis. Books may be declined if they not within the scope of the collection, if they are duplicates of books already held, or if they are badly damaged. Please contact the Research Librarian with brief details about potential donations so that their suitability can be assessed.

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN'S LITERATURE COLLECTIONS

This summary originally appended to Notes-Books-Authors 9, March 2006, gives the broader picture of the three special collections of children's books held by The National Library

The National Library of New Zealand holds three special collections of children's books. Together they contain over 120,000 children's books and form the most extensive collection of children's books in the southern hemisphere.

The Dorothy Neal White Collection is a reference-only collection of 8,000 children's books published before 1940. The collection began in the late 1970s when libraries began weeding older titles to make space for the increased numbers of new books published from the mid 1960s. Librarians saw that we needed to keep copies of these older titles as part of our cultural heritage. The collection has been built by donation so, although the books have come from the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA and Canada, as well as New Zealand, it reflects the books that have influenced and been enjoyed by New Zealand children. Most of the collection is fiction published from the mid-nineteenth century to 1940, but there are also a small number of eighteenth century books, about 1,500 non-fiction books and a large number of children's annuals and serials. The Dorothy Neal White Collection contains most New Zealand children's books published up to 1940. Although you need to visit the National Library in Wellington to use most of the collection, titles from the complete set (2,369 books) of the Chadwyck-Healey 19th century children's books on microfiche are available for interlibrary loan. Offers of donations to the collection are welcomed, but please contact the Research Librarian before bringing books into the Library.

Books in the National Children's Collection (approximately 95,000 picture, fiction and non-fiction books) are available for interlibrary loan. The NCC began as the School Library Service Head Office Collection in 1942. It includes books published since 1940 from the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA and Canada. As it receives a legal deposit copy of all New Zealand children's titles, it is particularly strong in New Zealand books in English, Maori and Pasifika languages. There is some overlap between the books held in the NCC and those in the Susan Price Collection.

A small number of books from the Dorothy Neal White Collection and National Children's Collection are accessible online in the International Children's Digital Library

Susan Price gifted her collection to the National Library in 1991. At present Susan Price curates it in her home. At a future date it will be housed at the National Library as an example of an individual's collection. The Susan Price Collection contains approximately 20,000 books - mainly fiction for nine to 18 year olds published around the world since World War II. The SPC reflects Susan's passion for history and she also endeavours to buy first editions. She has a notable collection of Puffin storybooks. For a comprehensive description of her collection, read Books for life by Susan Price (Wellington:Gondwanaland Press, 1991).

To see books from the Dorothy Neal White and National Children's Collections, visit Reference Services on the Ground Floor of the National Library of New Zealand building in Molesworth Street, Wellington. To visit these collections please make an appointment with the Research Librarian.
Telephone 64-4-475 3084, or email reference@natlib.govt.nz
To visit the Susan Price Collection, please contact Susan Price. Telephone 64-4-475 8092