LIBRARIES IN ECUADOR, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA AND GAMBIA DESIGNATED UNITED NATIONS DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES
Press Release
PI/1123
LIBRARIES IN ECUADOR, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA AND GAMBIA DESIGNATED UNITED NATIONS DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES
19990407 Three libraries, located in Ecuador, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Gambia, have been designated United Nations depository libraries, becoming part of an international network of 373 libraries in 143 countries and territories which bring United Nations documents and publications to users around the world. They are the Universidad San Francisco de Quito Library (Quito, Ecuador), the Learning Resources Center of the College of Micronesia (Palikir, the new capital of the Federated States of Micronesia), and the Gambia National Library (Banjul).The Universidad San Francisco de Quito Library, established in 1988, is the second United Nations depository library to be designated in Ecuador. It serves a faculty of 500 professors, as well as a body of 2,200 students, and is also open to the general public, logging an average of 32,500 users per month. It maintains a collection of more than 70,000 volumes of books and 6,000 audiovisual items and subscribes to 580 periodicals.
The Learning Resources Center is the largest library in the Federated States of Micronesia and the first United Nations depository library designated in the country. The Center serves the faculty and students of the College of Micronesia, the only collegiate level institution in the country. Its collections comprise more than 30,000 volumes of books, 230 periodical subscriptions and approximately 700 videotapes and 420 16mm films. The Center has 15 staff members and is equipped with photocopying machines, microfiche readers and computers with Internet access. Two librarians will be in charge of the United Nations deposit collection.
The Gambia National Library was established by the British Colonial Office in 1946; in 1962, it was incorporated into the Gambian Government, and in 1985 acquired autonomy. The Library, which serves as both a public and a national library, maintains a collection of more than 115,000 volumes of books, 85 periodical subscriptions and a special collection of Gambiana. It logs an average of 500 users daily and provides photocopy and microfiche facilities. Two full-time staff will manage the deposit collection.
Since 1946, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at United Nations Headquarters in New York, part of the Department of Public Information (DPI), has arranged for the distribution of United Nations documents and publications to users
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around the world through its depository library system. At present, there are 373 United Nations depository libraries: 55 are located in Africa, 100 in Asia and the Pacific, 32 in Eastern Europe, 84 in Western Europe, 48 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 54 in North America. These libraries receive United Nations materials, with the understanding that their collections will be maintained in good working order and be available to the public free of charge.
United Nations Member States, as well as non-Members, are entitled to one "free depository", usually the national library in the capital city. In addition, the national parliamentary library, if open to the public, is also entitled to receive material free of charge. Other depository libraries pay a token annual contribution to receive United Nations documentation. Developing countries pay a significantly smaller amount than developed countries.
The designation of depositories is carried out by the United Nations Publications Board. The degree of development of the requesting libraries and the overall geographic distribution of depository libraries in the countries concerned are among the criteria used.
United Nations professional librarians and information officers make periodic visits to the depository libraries to provide assistance and training in the management of the United Nations collection. In addition, special training seminars for depository librarians are periodically organized by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York and by the Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
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