Croatia

The Croatian Centre for Children's Book was founded in 1993 to promote Croatian children's books both nationally and internationally. The members of the National Board for Children's Book are writers, illustrators, translators, publishers, theoreticians of children's literature, pedagogues, librarians and representatives of the Ministry of Culture. In 1995 the Centre became the Croatian Section of IBBY.

IBBY Croatia is a part of Zagreb City Libraries and is supported by the Zagreb City Government and the Croatian Ministry of Culture: www.kgz.hr

In 1993, the Centre established the 'Protected Children's Book Collection'. The collection consists of books for children and young adults, written by Croatian writers and published by Croatian publishers; translations of Croatian authors in other languages; Croatian illustrated books and comic strips and Croatian editions of classic literature for children.

The Centre nominates Croatian authors for international awards, including the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Awards and the IBBY Honour List. It also organizes the presentation of Croatian artists at the Biennial Illustrations Bratislava.

For many years Centre organized a conference on children's books and reading promotion in connection with International Children's Books Day on April 2. The proceedings were subsequently published.

The Centre also celebrates the Month of the Croatian Book by organizing a National Quiz for Reading Promotion in which all the children's libraries in Croatia participate.

The Center runs the Croatian Illustrators Presentation Programme, and constantly collaborates with institutions, authors, publishers and libraries to promote Croatian children's books at home and abroad.