Forwarded from the H-Africa mailing list: ======================================
Library of Congress African & Middle Eastern Reading Room to close permanently Dear H-Africa colleagues - Effective late December 2006, the Library of Congress will close its African and Middle Eastern Reading Room. This reading room is the public service point within the Library of Congress for Africa, the Near East (including Central Asia and the Caucasus), and for Hebraica (including Jewish studies and Biblical studies, ancient and modern Israel, the ancient Near East and pre-Islamic Egypt). The AMED Reading Room is being closed to accommodate a permanent exhibition gallery showing the recently-acquired Jay I. Kislak Collection of early Americana materials. The Library of Congress plans to move its Africa-related reference service to a reading room shared with its European Division (ED), according to Dr Mary-Jane Deeb, director of LC's African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED). The current AMED and ED Reading Rooms hold 20,000-volume reference collections - dictionaries, handbooks, statistical publications, atlases, and bibliographic tools. To share the same reading room, both core collections will need to be reduced by half. Dr Deeb told me yesterday that she believes public floorspace in the Library of Congress is available for a stand-alone AMED Reading Room. She has started negotiating within the Library of Congress for this new, separate reading room. Closing the AMED Reading Room diminishes the Library of Congress's mission to make its resources available and useful to the American people. Alongside other recent decisions, this appears to be more evidence that the Library of Congress's leadership sees the world's largest library as merely a museum for books rather than a living research facility encouraging knowledge and creativity. Librarian colleagues have suggested that deleting or concealing "Africa" from among the Library of Congress's public service points insults or denigrates Africa, that visiting dignitaries from African states might read this move as US state policy. But I am amazed that the Library of Congress leadership would reduce or constrain public reference support for African research at a time when public interest in the continent is at a peak. It goes without saying that cuts in reference collections on Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, and Palestine make absolutely no sense during this time of national awareness, involvement, and sacrifice. Please help to preserve the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room! Please speak out to affirm the importance of research support for African studies at the Library of Congress. There are several ways to help - but all ways involve letter-writing or e-mailing. First, these are the Library of Congress directors who set and implement policy for the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room. They are all: (1) Jeremy Adamson, Director, Collections & Services Directorate. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540-4800. Phone: 202-707-9176. Fax: 202-707-6269. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr Adamson oversees the Reading Rooms. (2) Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540-4000. Phone: 202-707-5325. Fax: 202-707-6269. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr Marcum oversees all collections services and public services, and is Dr Adamson's supervisor. (3) James Billington, Librarian of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540-1000. Phone: 202-707-5205. Fax: 202-707-1714. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The buck stops with Dr Billington. Second, the title says it all: Library of Congress. Please consider contacting your congressional representative. Ask your senators and representative to contact THEIR librarian, Dr Billington, about preserving the AMED Reading Room. You might also request that they ask Dr Billington for his short-term and long-range plans to sustain and advance research support for African studies within the Library of Congress. If you don't know how to contact your congressional representatives, here's some help: "Write Your Representative: URL: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ "U.S. Senate: Senators of the 109th Congress:" URL: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm The House of Representatives's Committee on House Administration oversees the management of the Library of Congress. Committee members are listed at: URL: http://cha.house.gov/about/default.htm They are: Vernon Ehlers (R, MI), chair. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D, CA), ranking minority-party member. Bob Ney (R, OH). John Mica (R, FL). John T Doolittle (R, CA). Thomas Reynolds (R, NY). Candice Miller (R, MI). Robert A Brady (D, PA). Zoe Lofgren (D, CA). I have placed this matter on the agenda for the Africana Librarians Council at its sponsored-organization business meeting during the African Studies Association annual meeting, Friday morning 9-11:30 AM, 17 November 2006. All ASA members with an interest in library issues are considered to be ALC members and are welcome to participate in the discussion. Thanks in advance for spreading the word and for lobbying! Yours, Lauris Olson African Studies Bibliographer, University of Pennsylvania Library and Chair, Africana Librarians Council (2005-2006) -- Lauris Olson Social Sciences Bibliographer e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Van Pelt Library/6206 W: http://pobox.upenn.edu/~olson University of Pennsylvania p: 215 / 898-0119 Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206 f: 215 / 898-0559 U.S.A. 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