How books from around the world get to IU

Image of used book stalls in Sri Lanka, courtesy of Gwendolyn Kirk, South Asian and South East Asian Librarian for IU Libraries. 

Book-buying trips abroad taken by IU Libraries’ area studies librarians play an integral role in enhancing the wide-ranging collections of books and ephemeral materials IU professors and students, as well as researchers elsewhere, find invaluable.  

Area studies librarians – experts in specific cultures and languages – periodically travel to attend international book fairs, comb through small book stores, connect with publishers, and learn about cultural and other timely topics being written about and researched worldwide.  Call them treasure hunts, deep academic dives, or research explorations in foreign countries.

“As IU Libraries, we want to support the teaching and research of our professors and students,” said Anna Marie Johnson, associate dean for Research and Learning Services. “This is an attempt to make sure we are collecting books and other materials valuable to them.”  

Unique collections broaden IU’s reach and stature.  

“We want IU to attract researchers from around the world,” Johnson added. “This type of collection development really puts us on the map and makes us stand out in terms of library collections. It makes us unique.”  

These one- to four-week trips, also known as acquisition trips, have been a long-standing IU Libraries’ practice going back several decades. Typically, two librarians take trips per year, funded by IU Libraries, gifts or grants, or federal higher education funds.  

“We try to be very strategic about how we do this,” explained Johnson. “We focus on getting books and materials that are representative of countries’ literature, history, and culture.”  

Currently, five area studies librarians each cover a specific geographic area: Latin America and Africa; South and Southeast Asia; East Asia; Central Eurasia and Russia, and the Middle East.

Only the most comprehensive libraries that are interested in and can afford to collect abroad pursue this avenue, according to Johnson. IU’s historical focus on languages and literature from all over the world makes this worthwhile, she added.  

“We get questions on a weekly basis from scholars and researchers asking about materials only found here at IU,” Johnson said.  “We have things that can’t be found anywhere else.”