April 6, 2023
Today the Japanese Book Club of Eindhoven delivered over 160 Japanese children books to the Witte Dame location of Eindhoven Library. Soon these will be on the shelves of the International Children's Book Collection together with books for children in English, Italian, Chinese, French, Romanian, Bulgarian, Persian, Polish, Ukrainian, Korean, and Spanish!
The books that were brought include 30 books for babies, 85 books for "peuters and kleuters," and over 30 books for children in lower elementary school. Also delivered were a handful of books for upper elementary children and educational/resource books. The collection includes many “classic” children’s books, a few Japanese translations of foreign children’s books, and also modern books. For a complete description of the books in Japanese, check out this super handy digital book log.
Note that four books with no ISBN number are not on this virtual bookshelf. In order to build this collection, the Japanese Book Club of Eindhoven received book donations from individuals in Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Breda, Tilburg, and Delft. A modest amount of money was also obtained via crowd funding, to help pay for the plastic wrap that will help keep the books in good condition.
This is the first step in building the Japanese book collection. Within a year, an additional batch of Japanese children's books will be added, which will double the size of this collection thanks to a generous donation from a foundation.
Many congratulations to the volunteers at Japanese Book Club of Eindhoven and to the Japanese families who will enjoy the books. Thank you also to Eindhoven Library for this successful collaboration. Every language added is a wonderful step in making Eindhoven Library and the city of Eindhoven more inclusive.
“Japanese Book Club” is a group of volunteers in the Eindhoven area. The club runs Japanese book reading sessions for children aged 0 - 4 in the Eindhoven Library every third Friday of the month. There are approximately 160 Japanese books in the children’s book collection (as of April/May 2023). Please contact jbceindhoven@gmail.com for more information or if you would also like to be involved.
The International Children's Book Collection includes books for children aged 0 to 12. The books can be checked out at no cost since an Eindhoven Library card is free for children aged 0 to 18. Membership of the library is also free for children and youth who reside outside of Eindhoven.