The Children's Department at CLP - Main houses the Children's Historical and Special Collections. This collection contains a wide variety of books from many different sources. It offers resources for students of children’s literature, teachers, storytellers, and other interested library users.

The Children’s Historical and Special Collections include:

• Children’s books significant to the history of children’s literature
• Notable books about literature for children, recent and historic
• Folk tales from many cultures and books about folklore
• Storytelling resources, the history and philosophy of storytelling, performance guides and handbooks, and program planning
• Criticism, reviews, and biographical information about children’s authors and illustrators
• Children’s books by local authors and illustrators
• Books authored or edited by former Children’s Department or Training School for Children’s Librarians staff, including Frances Jenkins Olcott, Anne Carroll Moore, Elva S. Smith, and Edna Whiteman
• Books about puppetry
• Pop-up and movable children’s books
• Award books: Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, Pura Belpré Medal, Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal, and Carolyn W. Field Award
• Works that explore problematic stereotypes from 20th century children’s literature, including examples that reinforce negative stereotypes, and contain offensive portrayals of race, ethnicity or gender