Good evening colleagues.
I have Clare Walsh's permission to forward this from the children's
literature listserv in the hope that you may have some suggestions for her.
Please direct replies to her via the beds.ac.uk address in the Cc field of
this e-mail.
Best wishes
Jane Wickenden
-----Original Message-----
From: Academic discussion of all aspects of children's literature
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Clare Walsh
Sent: 15 September 2011 14.33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Endangered archive of early children's books (the Hockliffe
archive)
Dear All,
The Hockliffe archive at the University of Bedfordshire comprises
approximately one thousand early children's books donated to the University
in 1927 (in its former guise as Bedford Training College) by Frederick
Hockliffe, a former mayor of Bedford.
Could anyone suggest possible sources of funding that I could apply to in
order to help preserve (and render more accessible) the Hockliffe books?
They are currently housed in wholly unsuitable cupboards in the foyer of the
University library and most students do not even know they exist, since the
glass cabinet in which a select few of the books are displayed is not a
raised one. Frederick Hockliffe donated the books on condition that they
should be made available to students for research purposes, but they are so
hidden and under-used as a resource that I would like to try to have them
displayed in proper temperature-controlled cabinets, but ones which would
made the books more visible to staff and students in all their wonderful
variety in terms of size, binding and subject matter.
I have been spurred on by the news of the death of Frederick's
granddaughter, Gill David, who kindly invited me over to Lanzarote last
August to add some more books to the archive. Unfortunately, I have just
learned that Gill passed away a few months later. She was so proud when she
learned (via the publicity for a one-day conference held at the University
in June 2009) of the existence of the archive and I'm determined to do all I
can to ensure that the archive becomes much more widely used both by UoB
students and by visiting scholars.
In the current climate, this is only likely to be achieved by securing
external funding, but I have no idea what sources of funding might be
available for this (the one offered by the British Library to support
endangered archives has since expired). Any suggestions on this would be
gratefully received.
Best wishes - Clare
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