Math Journals Donated to the National University of Colombia

Libraries across the world fight a never ending battle for space. The collection and storage of new knowledge is highly valued, but limitations exist. The Libraries of The Claremont Colleges recently lost an entire floor in Sprague Library, significantly reducing the space available for our science collections. Fourteen hundred shelves of materials had to be removed from the science collection in order to fit the collection into the remaining space. Part of the process involved de-duplicating the science libraries collection, both monographs and journals, in order to minimize the amount of space required to shelve them. The duplicate books were put on display at Sprague and Seeley G. Mudd for anyone to add to a personal collection. The journals were not as easy to place in new homes. Through the efforts of HMC Math Professor Art Benjamin and Elizabeth Millan, library student assistant and HMC student, and with the help of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Libraries were able to donate the majority of the duplicated math journals to the National University of Colombia. After several months of planning, about a hundred shelves of math journals were shipped to Colombia through the AMS donation program. Through this program, AMS pays for all shipping costs, allowing a school that would normally not have the means to acquire such a nice collection of journals the opportunity to expand their collection. The journals successfully arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, in mid-December and the people at the National University of Colombia have expressed their gratitude for the generosity that has been extended to them. The AMS donation program allows journal collections that would otherwise be discarded to continue the cycle of knowledge, and we were pleased to be able to participate.

Jezmynne Amergin
Science Libraries
jezmynne.amergin@libraries.claremont.edu

Elizabeth Millan
Harvey Mudd College