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Mission & Basic Roles
Mission
For all children, reading activities are “indispensable to learn languages, to cultivate sensitivity, to heighten power of expression, to enrich creativity and to acquire power for living life more deeply”（Act on Promotion of Children's Reading, Article 2）. It is an obligation of the whole society to maintain an environment in which all children can enjoy the pleasure of reading in achieving a truly rich community.
As the sole national library dedicated to children’s books based on the National Diet Library Law, the ILCL aims to realize the philosophy “Children's books link the world and open up the future!” through supporting activities and research related to children’s books by using its abundant domestic and foreign materials and information resources.
Basic Roles
To realize the above mission, the ILCL plays a part of the NDL, and fulfills the following three basic roles.
- Role as a library dedicated to children’s books
- The ILCL collects, preserves, and makes available a wide range of Japanese and foreign children’s books and related materials. By conducting surveys and research and providing professional training and information, it also supports a variety of programs related to children’s books and reading.
- Role as a place where children encounter books
- By making available Japanese and foreign children’s books, holding events and tours, and providing information, the ILCL gives every child the opportunity to become familiar with libraries and reading.
- Role as a museum of children’s books
- The ILCL introduces the general public to the appeal of children’s books through exhibitions, related lectures and events.
The above three roles are supplementarily and synergistically related.
To play these roles, the ILCL will closely cooperate with various organizations in and out of Japan related to children's reading, make efforts to provide efficient and effective services, and seek to provide services for a wide range of users who are not limited to particular regions or forms of use.
