Library of Congress Stops Cataloging Italian Books

Dear friends of Italy:

Libraries throughout the United States that have programs to acquire Italian
books now face a major funding crisis because of an arbitrary decision by the
Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress, which is in many respects the world's most important
library, has decided to stop cataloging Italian books.

Meanwhile, books that come in from other countries around the world continue
to be routinely cataloged in Washington at taxpayers' expense.

Cataloging information is made available at no extra charge to smaller
libraries throughout the United States under existing programs, but this will
no longer be the case for Italian language books. It is anticipated that
each library will have to pay an exorbitant fee of almost $15.00 to access
the cataloging information for each new Italian book that it acquires.

All members of the educated public who want American libraries to continue to
acquire Italian books should contact Dr. James H. Billington, who is the
Librarian of Congress (libofc@loc.gov), and especially their Congressmen--to
whom the Librarian reports.

Sincerely,

William J. Connell
Professor of History and La Motta Chair in Italian Studies
Director, Alberto Italian Studies Institute
Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ 07079


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