Mrs Lu Rees with Dr D.F. Waterhouse, Chairman of Council,
and Mr Victor Crittenden, College Librarian, at the presentation
of the collection to the Canberra College of Advanced Education
Library in 1980

Establishment

The Lu Rees Archives is an Australian children's literature research collection owned, financed, promoted and staffed by The Children's Book Council of Australia, ACT Branch (hereinafter CBCA), with financial assistance from all Branches of the Children's Book Council and support in kind from the University Library. The personal collection of Lu Rees, the founding president of the ACT Branch, formed the nucleus of the collection in 1974.

Lu Rees

This wonderful lady is Lu Rees, who started the Archives. Her inspiration and dedication has helped develop the Lu Rees Archives into what it is today.

Lucy Frances Harvey Waugh was the daughter of James Harvey Waugh and Jeanette Waugh (nee Johnston). She married Wilfred Benjamin Rees in 1925, and they had three sons, John, Paul and Lauron.

Lu Rees was employed by Colonel J.L. Treloar from 1931, then by the War Memorial Board from 1938 until 1955. In that year she was appointed Manager of the Canberra Branch of  F.W. Cheshire, the bookseller and publisher, a position she kept until her retirement in 1968.

From 1950-1975 Lu Rees was the Secretary of the Canberra Fellowship of Australian Writers, and was a Life Member of the Fellowship. During her time as Secretary she initiated the publication of Australian Writers, Australian Signpost and Span, and later assisted with Australian Voices. In 1957 she became the first President of the ACT Branch of the Children's Book Council, and later a Life Member of the Council. She was the author of its history, The Children's Book Council of Canberra, and of various lists of Australian children's books.

Lu Rees was awarded the M.B.E in 1964 for her services to literature, and created a Member of the Order of Australia (A.M.) for services to Australian children's literature in January 1983. In February 1983 she was posthumously awarded the Dromkeen Medal for services to children's literature. Mrs Rees died on January 23, 1983.

Purpose

The Lu Rees Archives 'aims to provide resources for the study and research of Australian authors and illustrators, including both the literature and the historical and cultural context in which it was created' (Lu Rees Archives Management Committee, 1987).

Management

After some years of being housed in Lu Rees' home and that of another CBCA member, the collection was deposited in the then Canberra College of Advanced Education Library in 1980. At that time, the collection was named after its founder. Recognising the need to manage the collection, the Archives formed a Committee in 1983, which meets regularly to discuss the Archives' development. In 1990, the Committee formally published its terms of reference for the management of the Archives, as detailed in Lu Rees Archives Management Committee Terms of Reference. The Committee meets six times annually, with membership drawn from Lu Rees Archives management staff and journal editor, CBCA National President, University academic staff at the University of Canberra; representatives from the National Library of Australia, Libraries ACT, the Children's Book Council, ACT Branch, the Canberra Institute of Technology, Australian Catholic University, the University Library; and a community representative. Other members are coopted as needed.

Although the Archives has been housed, organised and supported by the University of Canberra Library since its deposit in 1980, it was not until 1991 that a formal Agreement on the terms of this arrangement was signed after a long period of accepted ownership by the CBCA and housing and servicing by the Library (Clayton 1991). The day-to-day management of the Archives was taken over by the ACT Branch of the CBCA in 1990.

The Agreement sets out management responsibilities, access, security and aspects relating to termination and dissolution. In addition, there are detailed policy documents which guide collection development and management, conservation and preservation, inquiries and access, and future priorities and developments.

Over the years, expert advice has been available to the Archives from the National Library of Australia, the Library at the University of Canberra, and other organisations ad required.

The Archives has, since 2000, operated under a strategic plan. The third such plan, and earlier versions, are available on the Archives’ website. Annual Reports, available on the website, have been presented since 1994 to the local ACT Branch and the National Council of the CBCA. These measure the Archives’ achievements against its strategic plan and annual action plans.

The Archives has also been endorsed as an income tax exempt charitable entity as of 1 September 2001, in Subdivision 50-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, item 1.1 – charitable institution. The Archives is listed on the Australian Business Register under the number 58 255 965 426. Its legal name is Children’s Book Council ACT Branch Lurees Archives. Its trading name is Lu Rees Archives.

The Lu Rees Archives houses over 22,000 books including rare items, 2,400 overseas translations in 53 languages, the NSW School Magazine  (dating back to 1916), theses, authors', illustrators' and publishers' papers and artwork. The collection has been largely built by donations, in the first instance by publishers who, since 1981, have donated the majority of their children's books published; and in the second instance by private donations from authors, illustrators, individuals and organisations.

Most valuable and unique in Australia are the over 400 (in 2011) research files of materials on authors, illustrators, publishers and critics which contain, depending on the individual file, published material such as reviews and articles, as well as a range of items such as background research documents, promotional material, correspondence, audio recordings, and photographs plus the usual biographical and bibliographical material.

A donation in 1992 by critic and publisher Walter McVitty enhanced the collection by some 1,500 titles, significantly strengthening holdings in the 1950s and 1960s, and filling gaps in the nearly complete holdings of works by major Australian authors and illustrators. Another 1,500 titles which were part of this donation were given to the University Library's Children's Literature collection as they were duplicated by items already held by the Archives.

The special strength of the Archives is that all this related material has been gathered together in one readily accessible and publicly available place. As a broad and in-depth collection, the Archives provides a particularly rich and comprehensive overview of Australian children's literature, its creation and publishing endeavour.

Complementing the Lu Rees Archives and previously located at the University Library is the National Archives of the Children's Book Council of Australia, an organisation begun in 1945 with an estimated membership of some 3,000 individuals and corporate bodies. This Archives contains a valuable historical record of the development of Australian children's literature over 50 years. Together, the two related Archives offer a unique, in-depth resource. This Archives is separately supervised by the National Children's Book Council's National Archivist, and is housed in the National Library of Australia. The remainder of this document refers only to the Lu Rees Archives.

Access and Users

The Archives is staffed three days a week. The opening hours are listed on the website. The collection is publicly available.

Material is generally not for loan due to its unique, rare or research nature and the aim of the Archives to preserve the material. The use of some material is restricted due to donor stipulation. File material which is not copyright may be photocopied and provided on a cost recovery basis, through the Library's interlibrary loan procedures or through other arrangements made with the Archives staff.

The main users of the Archives are university students, external researchers and the community. Sample research queries external to the University reveal a wide variety of research needs.

Authors and illustrators use it as a safe repository for their body of work, unique and rare items. Publishers use it for archival, promotional, and research purposes. Overseas visitors with a special interest in children's literature come to see it and undertake research. A Visitor's Book records responses to the Archives. Some of the material is used for exhibitions which are held under secure conditions. Some parts of the collection have been loaned to local, interstate and international exhibitions.

The entire book collection is included on Libraries Australia, a web based national cataloguing database available worldwide. The files on authors, illustrators, publishers and critics were originally mounted in an abbreviated form in 1989 on the national online database, Australian Schools Catalogue Information Service (ASCIS) available to the 6,000 schools across Australia. As a by-product of this database, a hard copy publication, Lu Rees Archives of Australian Children's Literature: A Guide to the Collections, has served as a valuable source of information and finding aid to the collection for libraries around the world. This Guide and the database provided a strong foundation for literary, artistic and subject access to the authors' and illustrators' work, awards received and foreign language editions.

When ASCIS, renamed SCIS, announced its intention in 1992 to discontinue all databases except for the cataloguing database, the Lu Rees Archives researched other suitable hosts for the files. In 1993, the Lu Rees Archives was invited to join the national OZLINE bibliographic network of databases established by the National Library of Australia in 1987. OZLINE featured a wide range of Australian bibliographical and directory data in the disciplines of the Social Sciences and Humanities. Instead, the Archives joined AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature.

In 1999 the collection of manuscripts and papers housed in the Archives were added to RAAM (Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts), managed by the National Library of Australia. Since then the National Library has offered Trove for storing and accessing bibliographic records of papers and manuscripts, a service that is freely available to the public.

In that same year the Archives became part of the Australian Literature Electronic Gateway, or as it is currently known, AustLit. AustLit is a huge database of Australian literature, and it indexes books, journals, poetry, awards, and collections information on authors, illustrators, publishers, editors and literary critics. Approximately 12,000 records from the Archives' author and illustrator files were loaded on to AustLit, as well as the cataloguing records of our books. The Archives has remained a partner in this collaboration, and continues to index books and journals.

Promotion and Publicity

The Lu Rees Archives Management Committee has instituted several initiatives to promote the Archives' strengths and services. An annual journal, The Lu Rees Archives Notes, Books and Authors, has been produced since 1981, and an Editorial Policy guides its direction. Through the journal, authors, illustrators, publishers and others in the children's literature field provide valuable insight into literary and artistic style, technique and media, document various research studies and highlight the Archives' development and material donated to it.

The Archives has given support to a number of national and international exhibitions in such countries as Italy, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Several seminal publications such as Australian Children's Books: A Bibliography (1992) in two volumes covering the years 1774-1988, A Guide to Australian Children's Literature (1992), and Australian Children's Fiction: The Subject Guide (1993) have all acknowledged their significant assistance from the Lu Rees Archives.

Between 1980 and 1988, the Archives was featured at the ACT Branch CBCA's annual writing and illustrating for children conferences. These usually attracted 200 people from within several hours' drive from Canberra. The conferences acquainted authors, illustrators, publishers and individuals with the Archives' value and significance and invariably encouraged donations and additional support of various kinds. These seminars were superceded by biennial national CBCA conferences from 1992.

In addition to these annual conferences, the Archives has supported exhibitions, under secure conditions, of its unique foreign language editions, awards winners, and illustrators' artwork. The first major national exhibition of artwork from the Archives was in planning for more than a year.

The National Gallery of Australia exhibited 17 pieces of 'artwork in process', that is prepublication artwork, from the Archives along with artwork held in their own collection. (See National Gallery News September/October 1993). The exhibition entitled, Windows: Art for Children's Books, opened on 15 October, the eve of the 29th annual writing and illustrating for children conference held at the University of Canberra. The exhibition had the full support of the National Gallery's resources, and featured as part of their highly successful series of exhibitions for younger children and family groups. The exhibition ran through April 1994, and attracted thousands of visitors.

In 2007, the Archives held a major exhibition entitled Words…Pictures…Book! curated by Ilze Groves (Lu Rees journal editor, 2003-2010). The exhibition was held at the Civic Branch of ACT Libraries from 7 August – 5 October, with a smaller exhibition featured at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, which highlighted the illustrative work of David Miller and John Winch. The Civic exhibition displayed 57 items which featured the behind-the-scenes process involved in creating Spirit of Hope by Bob Graham, Highway by Nadia Wheatley and Andrew McLean and Beneath the Surface by Gary Crew and Steven Woolman. Materials exhibited included sketches, final artwork, dummies, manuscripts, correspondence, and other material. An accompanying public program featured the books’ creators who came to Canberra for 14 events at 11 different venues. They worked with over 500 children, teenagers and adults attending these sessions. Many people attended the exhibition. The full details of Words… Pictures…Books! are available as a separate report.

Support for the Archives 

Publishers, Creators and Commercial Support

Publishers, authors and illustrators have routinely donated materials to the Archives since 1981. Since 1988 when the Lu Rees Archives was designated as a qualifying collection under the Cultural Gifts Scheme, there have been continuing major donations of authors’ papers and manuscripts, publishers’ papers and records, and illustrators’ artwork. By 2009, the Archives had accepted over $1,000,000 in cultural gifts under this program. Annually between 700-1,000 books are added to the Archives.

For some years, a press clipping service provided Australia-wide newspaper coverage of published reviews and articles on Australian children's literature. While the amount of material varied each year, it is estimated that several hundred items were added annually. As it is an established practice that several books may be reviewed or discussed in a single article, the number of items added to individual research files amounts to far more.

Volunteer sopport

Since 1990, an honorary, non-remunerative position of Collections Development Manager has existed in the Archives to oversee developments. Dr Belle Alderman AM, Emeritus Professor of Children’s Literature, has occupied this position since its establishment. Between 600-700 hours are donated annually to accomplishthis position’s various responsibilities. The Manager’s responsibilities include: leading the development of policies, strategies and future directions; seeking and acknowledging donations; administering the Cultural Gifts Program; negotiating collaborative ventures; applying for grants; participating in outreach programs; providing leadership and guidance to the Administrative Officer; and liaising with professionals in children’s literature.

Other volunteers work on various projects. Between 1998 and 2008, volunteer hours collectively averaged six months of full time work each year. Since 2009, volunteer hours have surpassed the equivalent of a full-time position. We highly value our volunteers who exhibit a commitment and sense of pride in the Archives’ achievements and contribute markedly to its overall success. 

 
Student support

Financial Support of the Archives

The Children's Book Council, ACT Branch annually allocates approximately $1,500 to support the Archives' work. However, to suggest that this small amount is the only financial support provided by the CBCA would be misleading. Many hours of volunteer labour are provided by members of the CBCA annually. The sorts of tasks performed are recorded in the Record of Volunteers. Examples of large commitments of volunteer expertise include the production of the Lu Rees Archives journal, correspondence relating to acknowledgment and solicitation of donations undertaken annually, and listing and arranging large collections such as the Omnibus Books Publisher Archive.

The Library at the University provides many resources in kind. These include technology provisions, printing of the annual journal, stationery and brochures, purchase of conservation materials, storage materials, cataloguing the resources, and provision of space and storage for Archival materials.

In 1988, the Archives received a grant from the University of Canberra to research the parameters and produce the online database, and in 1992, the CBCA was successful in its application for a grant from the 1993 Australian Government Arts and Special Events Grants Program towards the purchase of a computer for the Archives. The Library contributed $1,500 towards the purchase of this computer where matching funds were required. The Archives has successfully achieved several Community Heritage Grants over the years to preserve its collections. There are ongoing efforts to seek grants to enable the Archives to reach its goals. These are detailed on the website.

In 1993, all eight branches of The Children's Book Council of Australia contributed a small percentage of their profit from the CBCA Children’s Book Week merchandise towards part time staffing for the Archives. In later years, an annual allocation from the National Executive of the CBCA has enabled staffing of the Archives for 14 hours per week for 46 weeks of the year.

Value of the Collection

Although no formal assessment of the monetary value of the Archives has been undertaken, the Lu Rees Archives Management Committee's Subcommittee Report estimated the value of the book collection in 1987 to be approximately $172,000. Since that time, materials such as artwork and manuscripts have been added, and the unique files have grown from 171 in 1989 to  over 400 by 2011. Many of the existing files have also grown dramatically.

The Walter McVitty donation of some 3,000 books was valued by two independent assessors at between $32,000 and $37,000 in 1992. The McVitty collection did not contain rare editions or foreign language editions. Given the present size of the Archives at some 22,000 titles including rare and overseas translations, plus the wide range of manuscripts, artwork and other unpublished material (exceeding $1,000,000 in value) the collection could be modestly described as 'quite valuable'.

Recently, a single letter written by A B Paterson claiming his authorship and explaining the origin of Waltzing Matilda was auctioned for $27,500. The Archives' holdings of this type of material are contemporary, but as time passes, the value of such material will increase.

Significance of the Archives

The Lu Rees Archives is internationally recognised as a unique and invaluable collection and attracts authors, illustrators, publishers, researchers and literary agents from around the world. The Archives documents the development of Australian children’s literature, preserves and makes resources publicly available for posterity. The Archives'  website features prominently in the top Google sites when entering Australian children’s literature as a search term. The Archives has contributed to the enhanced profile of Australian children’s literature through providing 12,000 records in 1990 to AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource. Thereafter, the Lu Rees Archives staff have indexed thousands of reviews, articles and other resources for AustLit. These are accessed by researchers all over the world, and ensure that the strengths of Australian children’s literature are documented and promoted.

By 2010, the Archives held over 22,000 books and its research files on authors, illustrators, publishers and critics numbered over 400. Many of the bibliographic records held in these files are accessible through the Author-Illustrator Index. In 1984, the collection of overseas translations numbered 164 volumes, in 19 languages. By 2010, the collection had grown to over 2400 volumes in 53 languages. Outside the National Library of Australia, the Archives holds one of the world’s largest collections of overseas translations of Australian children’s books. Donations of artworks, papers and manuscripts under the Cultural Gifts Program began in 1992, and the value of these donations by 2009 exceeded $1,000,000.  Many of these donations are documented in our finding aids. The artwork collection is presently being documented to ensure physical and intellectual control, facilitate easy storage and retrieval, provide public information for researchers, encourage the public exhibition of the artworks and provide educational programs.

The mission statement of the Lu Rees Archives inspires our organisation. We ‘strive to enhance the appreciation of Australian children’s literature by collecting, preserving and making available wide-ranging resources’. Our mission continues to be achieved in various ways by working collaboratively with the creators, publishers and others with an interest in the children’s book industry.