“There is a major policy that has been close to my heart for some time. It is the establishment of a Society Library as an increased benefit to members. It is easy to say “set up a library,“ but it must be useful to all members who may be thousands of miles distant.”
With those words in 1967 to the gathered membership at the 81st annual American Philatelic Society (APS) convention in Newark, New Jersey, APS President Edward L. Willard signaled the need for a research repository and proposed the “creation of a Library Service” for the Society. At the following year’s convention in Rochester, New York President Willard, along with the APS Board, decided to resurrect the idea of a research library. After forming an ad hoc committee led by Daniel Vooys to study the feasibility of a library, the filing of the appropriate paperwork in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania soon followed and the incorporation of the new “American Philatelic Research Library” (APRL) was granted on October 28, 1968.
Christmas Island. Philatelic Bureau. Information booklet (Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: Philatelic Bureau, 1981). [VF Christmas Island]
Adachi, Sunao. Japanese perfins ([Delta, B.C., Canada]: [n.p.], [1972]). [IP69848]
Benninghoff, Robert. Ireland in the Great War and the struggle for Irish independence 1914 to 1922 [exhibit] ([n.l.]: Robert Benninghoff, [2018]). [G5781 .P856 B47i 2018 EXHIBIT]
Here in Central Pennsylvania we are fortunate to have such an active and enthusiastic community of students groups and organizations that express an interest in volunteering in the local region and more recently at the APS and the APRL. One of these student groups was here this weekend volunteering at the APS for the first time, the Penn State Hillel BKind student organization.
As National Library Week draws to a close with its message of “Libraries Lead”, we look at the global reach of the APRL for collectors and researchers from around the world. Much of the research and reference work done on a daily basis at the APRL is often performed for remote users and patrons, some here in the U.S., others internationally. In the age of the internet, email and social media, the ability to share and access the resources of the APRL has now become worldwide. Researchers regularly contact the library remotely for their research needs.