NOAA 2000-024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pat Viets 3/30/00 |
OF THE YEAR NOAA's Central Library in Silver Spring, Md., today received the 1999 Library of the Year award at the Library of Congress, the Commerce Department announced. "This award recognizes the NOAA Central
Library for its initiative and dedication in creating a distinctive
combination of products and services," said D.
James Baker, NOAA administrator. "It also recognizes
the library for excellence in meeting the needs of its user groups." NOAA's Central Library maintains a collection of more than one million books, journals, technical reports, and other sources that support research in disciplines such as the atmospheric sciences, fisheries, space sciences, marine biology, meteorology, oceanography and related disciplines of interest to NOAA. Access to the library's catalog and the collections of 27 other NOAA libraries is available online at: http://www.lib.noaa.gov The library has a
unique collection of rare books dating from 1485 that were
assembled by scholars of the original U.S. Weather Bureau. In
addition to writings on meteorology and climatology, the Rare
Book Room also includes treasures from the original Survey of
the Coast (1807) and from the original U.S. Commission on Fish
and Fisheries (1871). This unparalleled collection is preserved
in a climate-controlled environment for use by NOAA staff and
the public. The NOAA Central Library shares the Library of the Year award with the Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library. |