Since the University of Oldenburg was founded in 1974, continuous, interdisciplinary research in the field of children's and young adult literature has developed, which has been accompanied by teaching events, exhibitions and congresses. The Oldenburg Children's and Young Adult Book Fair (Kibum), which is regularly organised in co-operation between the university and the city, was and is an important forum for making university research results visible.

In order to institutionally anchor Oldenburg's research activities in the field of children's and young adult literature, the Research Centre for Children's and Young Adult Literature was founded in autumn 1997, which works closely with the University Library's children's book collection. It is also in co-operation with other research institutions on children's and young adult literature in German-speaking countries.

The aim of the research centre is to promote interdisciplinary research into children's and young adult literature. At the centre of its research interests is children's and young adult literature as an aesthetic-literary, media, social, psychological and educational phenomenon. The work of the research centre is embedded in the interdisciplinary structure of research and teaching at the University of Oldenburg, which results from the networking of different disciplines.