This is the second in a series of daily posts about how the American Philatelic Research Library serves the philatelic community as we celebrate National Library Week.
The Philatelic Union Catalog, a collection of records from philatelic libraries in North America plus the Royal Philatelic Society London’s library, is just one way the APRL works with the community of philatelic libraries.
The Philatelic Librarians Roundtable includes philatelic library staff, board members, volunteers, and other interested parties. Initially, the group met occasionally in person and communicated using a Google Group. Now, the group meets every other month by conference call, and uses the Google Group to communicate by email in between calls and to share want lists, duplicates, and other documents. If you are interested in joining the group, contact me.
The group also meets every summer at APS StampShow. If you’ll be at StampShow in Milwaukee this August 8-11 and have an interest in philatelic libraries, come to the meeting.
The group helps to coordinate the Philatelic Union Catalog and facilitates the exchange of duplicate materials. It also serves as a forum to discuss issues facing philatelic libraries and projects. As many libraries embark on digitization and indexing projects, sharing progress with the group can help everyone avoid duplication of effort and get early feedback.