Library of Congress Overseas Offices

The Library of Congress >> Acquisitions
Library of Congress
Overseas Offices

Since 1962 the Library of Congress has maintained offices abroad to acquire, catalog, preserve, and distribute library and research materials from countries where such materials are essentially unavailable through conventional acquisitions methods. Today there are six overseas offices, in New Delhi (India), Cairo (Egypt), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Jakarta (Indonesia), Nairobi (Kenya), and Islamabad (Pakistan). Administered by the African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations Division, they are regional offices--their collective acquisitions effort covers more than sixty countries.

In addition to serving the Library of Congress, the offices conduct Cooperative Acquisitions Programs (CAP) for 105 participating institutions, primarily academic research libraries. MARC records are prepared for materials acquired by all of the overseas offices, and two offices--the New Delhi office and the Jakarta office--maintain large-scale micrographics operations for preservation microfilming.

Cooperative Acquisitions Programs

The African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations Division assists the overseas offices in the management of the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs. These programs are open to library and research institutions wishing to acquire publications from the countries covered by the programs.

Participating libraries deposit funds with the Library of Congress annually to cover the projected cost of the materials, binding, and shipping, plus administrative costs. The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs are run by the Library of Congress on a cost-recovery basis.

Cairo Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the Cairo office include more than fifty participants and acquire materials from Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, U.A.E., West Bank, and Yemen.

Islamabad Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the Islamabad office include more than thirty participants and acquire materials from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.

Jakarta Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the Jakarta office include more than twenty-five participants and acquire materials from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Nairobi Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the Nairobi office include nearly thirty-five participants and acquire materials from Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo (Kinshasha), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

New Delhi Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the New Delhi office include forty participants and acquire materials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and Tibetan materials published in several Asian countries.

Rio Office

The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the Rio office include nearly fifty participants and acquire materials from Brazil, Guyana, Guyane, Suriname, and Uruguay.

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The Library of Congress >> Acquisitions
15 February, 2008