A U.S. Library of Congress delegation visited the National Council for Women’s Central Library at the Council’s headquarters.
The Council’s Specialized Library Director, Mona Khalil, shared information about the library’s establishment, services, cultural activities, holdings, and electronic library catalog.
Dr. Rustin Zarker, the Director of the Regional Office of the Library of Congress Office in Cairo and the Middle East; Khaled Riyad, Head of the Singles Acquisition and Cataloging Department; and Nada Samir, Exchange and Gifting Specialist at the Library of Congress at their Regional Office in Cairo, were present at the visit.
Dr. Zarker expressed his pleasure in the existing cooperation between the Council’s Library and the American Library of Congress Cairo Office, one of the first foreign offices established by the Library of Congress outside the United States of America.
He explained that the Library of Congress was initially established to support Members of the U.S. Congress in carrying out their duties, but over time, it became a national library. It became interested in collecting all the publications of various entities to include them in its holdings, including the publications of the National Council for Women.
Zarkar further pointed out that specialists from the Library of Congress – Cairo Office team collect books received from various parties, including publications of the National Council for Women, process them, and perform technical operations on them before displaying them to the public.
They are preserved using the latest scientific methods and means and entered into the database. A copy of it is deposited in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
On his part, Khaled Riad emphasized that women’s topics and issues have become among the most important issues raised on the global scene in recent years, which is a fundamental reason for strengthening cooperation between the Council Library and the Library of Congress office in Cairo.
In turn, Nada Samir explained that the two parties would cooperate over the coming months in exchange and gifting to achieve the desired goals in information services.
Dr. Rustin Zarker received the commemorative issue of the book “Political Will, A Testimony to History” during the meeting.
The Council presented this copy to be deposited in the collections of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
The book includes testimony to history written by many public figures, senior officials, male and female officials, and representatives of the Senate and House of Representatives, discussing Egypt’s achievements and efforts to empower women.
The commemorative issue also includes the words of the President of the Republic, supporting and motivating women, and his many humanitarian stances.
The Congressional Office team expressed admiration for the unique and distinctive holdings of the Council’s library, stressing the support of the library during the coming months with a number of donated books on women and related topics that are of interest to researchers and specialists in women’s studies.
