Researcher's Reading Room

This is the reading room for research on children's books, located on the second floor of the Arch Building of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL).
Please see also Information for Visitors to the ILCL.

In the Researcher's Reading Room, Japanese children's books, picture books published in foreign countries, as well as materials for research on children's books and literature are available. In addition, there are sections such as Japanese textbooks currently in use and materials on supporting the promotion of children's reading activities. Small exhibitions that introduce the ILCL's materials are also held in this room.

For the materials held by the ILCL, see Materials in the Search Guide.

Services

• In principle, the Researcher's Reading Room is for people aged 18 and over.
• Please wash and disinfect your hands before and after using the room.

When entering the room or using materials, please present a Registration Card (IC card) at the entrance of the room. If you do not have a Registration Card, a One-day User Card (IC card) will be issued. Please fill in the application form and submit it to the counter.

For the user registration system of the National Diet Library (NDL), please refer to User Registration.

Please refrain from bringing B5 size or larger bags, opaque bags, food, and drinks when entering the room. Users are requested to deposit baggage in a locker outside of the room and to carry writing materials, valuables, or other necessary items in a transparent bag.

If you are under the age of 18 and would like to use the Researcher's Reading Room, please consult us.

For other inquiries, please refer to Instructions for On-site Use of International Library of Children's Literature, National Diet Library (PDF: 199KB) for using the Researcher's Reading Room.

Opening Days

Tuesday to Sunday

• National holidays except Children's Day (5 May), the third Wednesday of every month (for refiling) and New Year's holidays are closed.
• The room may be temporarily closed for system maintenance, etc.

Please see the Library Calendar of the ILCL.
For temporary closure, please see Notice of Temporary Closure.

Service Hours

Browsing materials

Users are free to pick up and browse any materials on the open shelves.

Most materials are in the stacks, so users can search and request a material on the terminal. Staff members will deliver the material from the stacks.
The materials held by the ILCL can be searched through NDL Search.
For information on searching materials, please see the Search Guide.

The ILCL's materials are not to be lent out to any individuals. The interlibrary loan service is available for domestic users (Japanese only) and for international users through their local libraries or university libraries. For more information, please contact your local library or your university library.

Group Research Room

For use by people with disabilities, please contact us by phone by the day before the use.

Notice

2025-1-31 Some materials will be unavailable while undergoing digitization

Part of our collection will be unavailable while undergoing digitization.

Unavailable materials and period

From March 11, 2025 to November 30, 2025, Japanese books published primarily between 1990 and 1995 as well as some published before 1989 will be unavailable at the International Library of Children's Literature.

During this period, search results for these materials in the NDL SEARCH will show the designation " Work in progress デジタル化のため." Before you visit the library, please search materials you want to use and check the designation.
For details, please refer to the "List of unavailable materials (Japanese)".
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this operation.

• Materials
• Photoduplication Service