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The Butler Children's Literature Center was dedicated on January 10, 2009. The program featured Jon Scieszka, the Library of Congress's Inaugural National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and recipient of an honorary doctorate of letters in celebration of Dominican University's Year of Youth Literacy. The opening of the center's current location in the Rebecca Crown Library, Room 214, was commemorated in September 2011 with the Kinship Project, the center's inaugural exhibit, which showcased 29 books for young people that represent the theme of "kinship." The annual Butler Lecture series has presented influential figures in children's book creation, including Ed Young, Jane Yolen, LeUyen Pham, Christian Robinson, Holly Black, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Carmen Deedy, Bryan Collier and Aisha Saeed. 

Founding partners of the Butler Children’s Center include the Dominican University’s School of Education, the Rebecca Crown Library, the Butler Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor.

The Butler Children’s Literature Center is housed in Rebecca Crown Library room 214. Constructed with a donation from the Butler Family Foundation, the space is designated for housing the special collections and activities that support the study and celebration of youth literature. Library and Information Science courses in children’s and young adult literature, Master of Arts in Youth Literature courses, and School of Education courses meet in the BCLC main reading room. 

BCLC hosts weekly open hours (varied by semester) for student and visitor use of the collections. Special appointments, outside of open hours, can be made by arrangement with the curator. 

Space use requests will be reviewed individually by the center curator and/or director of the School of Information Studies, with priority given to classes, events, and groups that need use of the collection or that are directly connected to the center. Food and drink may be consumed in the space with permission from the curator. All food and drink must be kept away from the bookshelves and collections. Arrangements must be made with ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Physical Plant/Housekeeping for post-event cleanup after serving food and/or drinks in the Butler Center space.

The center's collections are available to Dominican University students and faculty, as well as members of the general public, including freelance reviewers, area educators, parents, and other adults interested in connecting young people with the best in books for kids. The Center’s review collection, composed of newly published titles for babies to young adults, is available during BCLC open hours and by appointment with the curator for students, professionals, writers and reviewers as an educational resource and mentor text collection. This is a non-circulating collection, and not available through the catalog. BCLC retains only the most recent year of published books in its collection, which is refreshed annually through publisher donations. 

BCLC also houses historical collections of significance, including the Effie Lee Morris Collection of African American-focused books for children and the Ellin Greene Storytelling Collection. These collections are non-circulating, but searchable through the Rebecca Crown Library Catalog. They are available for limited use by students and researchers by appointment with the curator.

Curating a Collection: Our Policy
There is a lot of thought behind what goes into a library.

The Butler Children’s Literature Center Collection Policy Statement provides a framework of procedures, definitions, and guiding principles governing the selection, acquisition, and withdrawal of library materials—in both traditional and electronic formats. This statement serves as a working document to assist in the decision-making process for developing and shaping the collection.

Read the center’s collection statement here.

Contact the Butler Center at butler@dom.edu or (708) 524-6861 for current hours or to request an appointment to visit the center.