Afro-American Library Opened

The Afro-American Studies Department opened a new departmental library Wednesday in Lamont 511. The library, designed primarily for undergraduate concentrators in Afro-American Studies, will include all books used in departmental courses as well as other books and periodicals of special interest to the department.

Although some students have been using the library since February 8, it was not staffed for regularly scheduled hours until last week.

The library was originally scheduled to open last Fall. Ewart G. Guinier '33, chairman of the department, attributed the delay to difficulties in getting books. "It's a question of moving things from one place to another, and that takes time," he said.

Guinier estimated that the collection now includes 300 volumes. Other items have been ordered, and will be added as they become available.

Target Number

The "target number" for the library is 1837 volumes, Guinier said. This number represents the works cited in the bibliography, The Negro in the United States, which will become the "core collection." of the library, according to the department report issued last Fall.

The creation of a departmental library fulfills part of the Faculty mandate which created the Afro-American Studies Department in April 1969. The Faculty resolution requires the department "to oversee expansion of library resources in the Afro-American Studies field."

The library is being financed by a grant from the Afro-American Studies Fund which was set up by Albert L. Nickerson '33, a Fellow of Harvard College. It will eventually become part of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute which is planned as a research center for Afro-American Studies.