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Coordinates: 46°13′36″N 6°08′26″E / 46.22667°N 6.14056°E / 46.22667; 6.14056
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United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Map
46°13′36″N 6°08′26″E / 46.22667°N 6.14056°E / 46.22667; 6.14056
LocationPalace of Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
TypeSpecial library
ScopeUnited Nations-related research
Established1919; 105 years ago (1919)
Collection
Items collectedBooks, magazines, pamphlets, journals/periodicals, newspapers, official documents/publications, maps, microfilm/microfiche
Other information
Parent organizationUnited Nations
Websiteungeneva.org/en/library-archives

The United Nations Library & Archives Geneva are ....

The library and archives open their doors not only to UN staff and members of the diplomatic corps but to researchers, students and practitioners from all walks of life.[1]

The UN Library, previously the League of Nations Library, was established in 1919 and became the UN Library following the transfer of the League’s assets to the United Nations in 1946. The Library Library aims to uphold the vision of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who, in 1927, made a significant donation to the League of Nations that enabled the construction of the library building “to serve as a centre of international research and an instrument of international understanding”.[2]

Collection

UN General Assembly Documents
  • The Library houses the largest United Nations documents collection in Europe. It also maintains a comprehensive collection of materials of the specialized agencies and the United Nations affiliated bodies. The collection, which comprises over four million printed items in the six official languages of the United Nations, encompasses the entirety of the Organisation's activities since its inception in 1946.[3]
  • The Library collects books, periodicals and electronic resources to support the programmes and activities of the United Nations Organisation in a number of areas, including international law, human rights, multilateralism, diplomacy and international relations, disarmament, sustainable development, humanitarian affairs, refugees, economic and social development, environment, and more. It offers one of the richest collections in Europe in the fields of law, politics, and social sciences.[3]
  • Following the closure of the UNHCR Library in 2008, the institution's specialised collection was transferred to the UN Library & Archives Geneva.
  • As the former library of the League of Nations, the collections also include notable books on peace from the pre-League period (XVIth-XIXth century).[3]
  • The Library is also the custodian of a collection of more than 2,000 artworks dating from the League of Nations period to the present, most of them donated by Member States.[4]

History

The Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva was previously the Library of the League of Nations, the United Nations predecessor, and was founded along with the League in 1919. The League Library was first housed in London.[5] Mary-Florence Wilson was the founding Librarian.[6] She not only organized the library efficiently, but also worked out ambitious plans for its development.[7]

In November 1920, the League relocated to Geneva, in the Hôtel National, a building on the shores of Lake Geneva that served as the League's provisional headquarters. In 1926, as the League expanded its activities, an international of architectural competition was organized to design a permanent home for the organization. The result was the project for the future Palais des Nations (Palace of the Nations).    

1927 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., an American industrialist and philanthropist, contributed two million dollars to endow the League of Nations with a modern library suitable for the study of international relations. The donation expressed Rockefeller's strong belief in the role of the League Library as a force to promote peace through knowledge. The architectural plans of the Palais des Nations were subject to significant alterations following the unanticipated donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The library was situated in a distinct wing of the recently constructed edifice. A Library Planning Committee was constituted with the objective of ensuring that the latest techniques and principles in librarianship were incorporated.

The League Library created a network of depository libraries, to which the official documentation was sent. In return, government documents supplied free of charge by the Member States played a very important role in the library’s collection of current information. They contained official data often not available from any other source. The library regularly received official documents and gazettes of the states, colonies territories, and other administrative units, official statistical publications and national law.[4]

In 1937, the construction of the Library reached its conclusion. Despite the Second World War, the library remained open. However, only two members of the original 24-member staff were retained.[8] In 1946, when the League was dismissed, the Library, together with the other assets of the organization, was turned over to the United Nations.



In 1978, law librarian Thomas H. Reynolds assessed the importance of UN libraries on human rights issues as follows: "While the Dag Hammarskjold Library at New York headquarters has contributed impressive bibliographies to the literature of human rights and international law, one must not overlook the splendid collection of the larger but less publicized UN Library at Geneva which has become the major resource for documentary study of human rights and related subjects."[9]


See also

References

  1. ^ "Library & Archives | The United Nations Office at Geneva". www.ungeneva.org. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  2. ^ Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, The Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva - Custodian of League of Nations and United Nations Heritage, Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2014 - Lyon - Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge in Session 201 - Government Information and Official Publications with Government Libraries. In: IFLA WLIC 2014, 16-22 August 2014, Lyon, France. (online), p. 2
  3. ^ a b c "Library Collections | The United Nations Office at Geneva". www.ungeneva.org. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  4. ^ a b Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, The Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva - Custodian of League of Nations and United Nations Heritage, Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2014 - Lyon - Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge in Session 201 - Government Information and Official Publications with Government Libraries. In: IFLA WLIC 2014, 16-22 August 2014, Lyon, France.
  5. ^ Forman, Rachel. "Research Guides: Celebrating 100+ years of Library & Knowledge Services in support of Multilateralism: History of the Library & Archives". libraryresources.unog.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  6. ^ "The 'First International Librarian': Mary Florence Wilson". Library Policy and Advocacy Blog. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  7. ^ Garde, P. K. (1970). The United Nations family of libraries. Sarada Ranganathan lectures. New York: Asia Pub. House. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-210-22282-9.
  8. ^ Garde, Purushottam Krishna (1970). The United Nations family of libraries. Sarada Ranganathan lectures. London: Asia Publ. House. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-210-22282-9.
  9. ^ Reynolds, Thomas H. (1978). "Highest Aspirations or Barbarous Acts, The Explosion in Human Rights Documentation: A Bibliographic Survey". Law Library Journal. 71 (1): 17.

Bibliography

  • Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, The Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva - Custodian of League of Nations and United Nations Heritage, Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2014 - Lyon - Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge in Session 201 - Government Information and Official Publications with Government Libraries. In: IFLA WLIC 2014, 16-22 August 2014, Lyon, France. (online)
  • Jean-Claude Pallas: Histoire et architecture du Palais des Nations, 1924-2001 : l’art déco au service des relations internationales, Nations Unies, Genève 2001. ISBN 92-1-200354-0. Pages 256-269: Le bâtiment de la Bibliothèque
  • P. K. (Purushottam Krishna) Garde, The United Nations family of libraries, Asia publishing house, New York, 1970, Ranganathan series in library science, 22. ISBN 9780210222829
  • Norman S. Field, La bibliothèque des Nations Unies de Genève, Revue de la Société Suisse des Bibliophiles, 11 (1968), https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-388088
  • Muriel Hoppes, The Library of the League of Nations at Geneva. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, vol. 31, no. 3, 1961, pp. 257–68. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4305126 (paywall)
  • List of documents about the UN Library in Geneva: link
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