Dear Sirs:

Since you are sharing correspondence, this letter is a response to Mr. Edward Meany (October 7, 1992) and Mr. Richard Cross (October 20, 1992), It is also copied to Mr. Medhat Credi.

A gift or purchase on any topic is judged on the basis of whether it brings to the collection something not already provided, or not provided in sufficient quantity. A gift subscription to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs was refused because it did not fill an inadequacy in the Library collection. The short-term usefulness of this particular title reinforced that decision. Gift subscriptions to Arab Studies Quarterly or the Journal of Palestine Studies, for example, would have been judged differently, since they would serve the long-term interest of researchers, as well as short-term interest of browsers. Long-term access is a responsible concern in many subject areas, e.g. political science, history, or economics, given nature of use and importance of topic.

No library can have everything that is published. A process of selection is therefore necessary to properly use limited resources of staff time (to acquire, prepare, organize, store, and retrieve), space, and money to provide a quality collection, responsive to community needs. Librarians must be able to carry out their responsibility to select wisely and well without fear of intimidation by false cries of censorship or pressures unfairly brought to bear.

Further, a library's ability to provide access is increasingly unrelated to its ability to acquire and house individual items –whether subscriptions or books– on its premises. The trend to offer more access than ever before through means other than paper format has already begun. The measure of our Library's periodicals collection is therefore not individual titles on the shelf. It is what can be provided by all available means, including onsite use of cd-rom and what can be acquired through resource sharing.

This Library is well able, within the scope of its existing resources, to give patrons balanced information from a pro-Arab point of view. In keeping with proper collection development practice, the Library acquired such material long before it was easy to do so. Events of recent years have made it a simple matter to cull pro-Arab writings from many quarters, as you should already know.

We encourage people to express their concerns, but at some point must draw the line. You have wrong assumptions and false accusations Despite this, we have made an honest effort to address your concerns. We cannot do more.

Sandra Miranda
Library Director