I     Introduction

On March 16, 2005, the third meeting of the Board of Inquiry on Expansion of Library Services of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL) was held and approved the report to be submitted to the Librarian of the National Diet Library by the chairperson, Mr. Satoru Takeuchi, on the same day. 

This Board was the second to be summoned by the NDL. The first board submitted its report in 1995, based on which the National Diet Library formulated plans for the ILCL. According to the plan, the ILCL, partly opened in May 2000 and fully in May 2002, has functioned as a national center that supports a wide range of studies on children's literature and the children's book publishing in cooperation with other libraries inside and outside Japan.

Though it has been three years since ILCL's full opening, some services that had been proposed in the 1995 report have not yet been implemented in full because of lack of space and the structural limitations of the building. In addition, the environment surrounding children's reading has changed so much since 1995 that it seems that new directions should be sought again. 

II   Board of Inquiry on Expansion of Library Services of the ILCL

The new Board was established in September 2004 with 14 members consisting of representatives of related institutions and organizations as well as experts in children's books and reading. The Board first met in September 2004 to elect as chairperson Mr. Satoru Takeuchi, who then appointed Mr. Tadashi Matsui as deputy chairperson. The Librarian of the NDL consulted the Board to seek their views on the future direction of improvement of the ILCL services. The Board set up a working group to examine the subject in more detail and draw up a draft proposal based on the discussion at the Board meetings. The Board met twice more in December 2004 and March 2005, while the working group had five meetings from October 2004 to March 2005. At the last Board meeting a report was submitted to the Librarian of the NDL. To assist with the work of the Board, a few NDL staff members were appointed as secretaries, and the Planning and Cooperation Division of the ILCL served as the Board secretariat. 

The members of the Board and the working group were as follows:

Chairperson: Satoru Takeuchi, Director General, 
Japan Library Association*
Deputy chairperson: Tadashi Matsui, 
Senior Corporate Advisor, 
Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers Inc. 

Members:
Muneo Ishii, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, 

Japan School Library Association
Kuniko Kameda, President,
Japanese Board on Books for Young People
Norio Komine, President, 
Japanese Association of Children's Books Publishers
Masamine Sasaki, Director General, 
National Science Museum
Motoko Sato, Professor, University of Chiba
Taku Sugimoto, Associate Professor,
Chiba Institute of Technology
Yasuko Nakata, Chairperson, 
Committee on Children and Young Adults, 
Japan Library Association
Koji Nakanishi, Director-General, 
Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO  (ACCU)
Kenn Nakamura, Cultural writer, Asahi Shimbun
Akihiro Fujita, Deputy Director-General, 
Life Long Learning Policy Bureau, 
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Kyoko Matsuoka, Director, Tokyo Children's Library
Noyuri Mima, Deputy Director, 
Research, Development and Education, 
National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

Working group members: Motoko Sato (Leader), Yasuko Nakata

*Members' titles and affiliations as of March 2005 

III     Summary of the "Report of the Board of Inquiry on Expansion of Library Services of the ILCL" 

1     Changing environment surrounding children

The environment surrounding children has been changing greatly with the ongoing informatization of society, aging population with fewer children, and the increase in nuclear families. Under these circumstances, recognized anew are the mission and roles that libraries fulfill and play in fostering children's sensitivity and creativity. The importance of promoting children's reading has also been emphasized in the "Law on the Promotion of Reading Activities for Children" established in 2001, the activities of related organizations aiming to realize the spirit of the law, and the 2004 report of the Council for Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, "Demands on National Language Proficiency in Future Eras."

The ILCL should recognize that expanding the services stated below is a requisite to fulfill its mission as the national center for children's literature in response to the rapid and large-scale changes surrounding children.

2     Future direction for expanding the ILCL services

The ILCL should expand its functions with the three pillars of major roles defined as a special library for children's literature, an intersection of children and books, and a museum of children's literature. Around these three pillars, five functions are regarded as the most important. 

3     Expected roles of the ILCL

3.1 Function as a special library for children's literature (service for adults)

1) To sophisticate its function as information and resource center

The ILCL should establish a large reading room with a much more sophisticated function of providing information and further develop the collection which will be the basis of the reading room. The ILCL should add to its facility new stacks with a capacity of a million volumes which will be able to accomodate the increasing volume of materials in the next fifty years.

2) To promote its function of research and study
The ILCL should plan and implement research and study on children's books and at the same time should support researchers by providing information resources. The ILCL should also improve its facility to receive researchers and students from inside and outside of Japan for training.

3) To explore new roles for children's reading

In response to the introduction of the law which aims to promote children's reading activities and subsequent changes in environment, the ILCL should support the activities to promote children's reading and other related activities. In this regard, the ILCL should enhance its training programs, lectures, and workshops for librarians and others engaged in children's services so that they can develop their expertise to serve children better. The ILCL should also provide a function and a facility where those who are engaged in children's books and reading can form a cooperative network to share information and get to know each other. 

3.2 Function as an intersection of children and books (service for children) 

4) To establish a function to support children's research and study using books in addition to support for children's reading

The ILCL should develop the core collection for children and provide a place for them to get in touch with books so that they can inherit traditional wisdom such as folk tales, get to know their own country and other countries, comprehend the earth and nature as a place for them to live in, and live an enriched life with books. The ILCL should also support children's "research" in addition to their "reading" taking into consideration the services most suitable for each stage of children's development. In establishing a function to support children's research, a focus should be put on the field of international study and science.

3.3 Functions as a museum

5) To further develop a museum function as a third pillar of the library services 
An exhibition is a means to edit library's "resources" according to the chosen themes and display them in three dimensions. Coordination is needed to make the achievement of the library's collection development and the result of various studies and researches into a chance of meeting books. The ILCL should hold exhibitions for everyone who is interested in children's books and reading. The ILCL building can provide the most suitable facilities to implement the museum projects such as these exhibitions. The ILCL should also hold not only the exhibitions for visitors but also electronic exhibitions on the Internet, and should provide support to the exhibition activities of public libraries.

4     Digital information transmission and coordination/cooperation

The three pillars stated above must be underpinned by two kinds of infrastructure: digital information infrastructure and coordination/cooperation with other related institutions at home and abroad. 

First with regard to digital information infrastructure, the ILCL should enhance its digital library function and transmit/propagate information on its activities on a wider scale. It is also necessary to expand the ongoing digital archive and digital museum projects. 

Second it is essential to build up a network among libraries and other related institutions engaged in children's books and reading, not only in order to raise the level of the children's services nationwide but also to reinforce and expand the ILCL services. Furthermore, the ILCL is expected to contribute even more to the international community in the area of children's culture. It will be of great service to Asian countries for a network among those who work for children's books to be established in Asia. 

5    Improvement of the system of operations and facilities 

It is essential to improve the system to back up ILCL's operations while seeking further efficiency and rationalization in administration in order to fulfill the mission of the ILCL as the national center of children's literature from now on and into the future. It is also necessary to pull experienced and knowledgeable outside experts together and to secure and foster competent staff. 

As the national center of children's literature, it is necessary to improve the working environment and conditions by extending facilities such as stacks, reading rooms, offices, etc., to accommodate the ever-increasing collections. Having inherited the tradition of 100 years from the Meiji era, the ILCL facilities should be something that Japanese can be proud of, while at the same time utilizing the latest technology and being environmentally aware. 

The expansion should be built as an "Annex" in the NDL premises included in the Ueno Park of the Ueno Cultural Zone so that the Annex, near to the present ILCL building (main building), can be operated in tandem with the main building. The Annex should have stacks and function as a special library of children's literature for adults. The present library should function as an intersection of children and books and as a museum by making the best use of the attractive historical building which houses it.

For more information on the Board of Inquiry on Expansion of Library Services of the ILCL and its report, please contact:
Planning and Cooperation Division, International Library of Children's Literature
fax: +81-3-3827-2043