Children’s author Robert Munsch is donating his stash of story drafts, publisher notes and fan letters to the Guelph Public Library.
The southwestern Ontario library says the collection will offer a rare glimpse into Munsch’s decades-long career, during which he penned bedtime classics including “The Paperbag Princess,” “Love You Forever” and “Mortimer.”
The Munsch family says the library has been a large part of their lives, recalling that the author would take his young kids there every week to pick out new books.
Library CEO Dan Atkins says the collection will be a key part of a new Central Library currently under construction and set to open in late 2026 or early 2027.
Atkins says the library reached out last year to the Munsch family, and that they were immediately receptive to donating the trove.
Atkins says the family has saved “tens of thousands” of items including carvings, letters and artwork from children, much of kept it in basement storage.
He says the material will be housed in a new climate-controlled facility to preserve what he called “a significant piece of local history.”
The Munsch family said they were “excited to have the archives of Robert Munsch added to the Guelph Public Library.”
“The library has been a large part of our family’s lives. When our children were young, Robert would take the kids every week to pick out new books,” the family said Tuesday in a release.
“Robert Munsch is happy to continue to inspire kids and adults alike through the archives.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
