International Youth Library/Internationale Jugendbibliothek

Welcome to my blog! I have been meaning to start this two weeks ago, but for various reasons I didn't get on the ball with that goal! So, now I'm starting. A bit overwhelmed because I have so much to say. But today I wanted to start with explaining a little about why I am here and why this castle is important.

In 2015, I was awarded a research fellowship at the International Youth Library in Munich. It is the largest collection of children's picturebooks in the world and situated in a castle. I have a lot to say about the history and background of this wonderful place, but I'm going to save that for another post. Briefly, I will say that this library was created after books were banned and destroyed by the Nazis in WWII. It has a focus on social justice and education through books. It's a focus that is incredibly close to my heart.

I created a proposal in where I planned to study international picturebooks about bullying. I've done work on this in the US, where it's hard to get your hands on international books.

So, I started on April 20th. I go here every day to conduct research. It's amazing.