Elsevier Celebrates Unique Dual Anniversary with Gift Program for Libraries in Developing Countries

The year 2005 has special meaning for Elsevier. It marks both the 125th anniversary of the founding of the modern Elsevier, as well as the 425th anniversary of the original House of Elzevir, from which we take our name.

Karlyn Messinger, Manager, External Communications, Corporate Relations, Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA, USA

A Bit of History

The Elzevir family began their printing and bookselling business in the Netherlands in 1580. Significantly, they did it at a time when publishing was “risky business,” when freedom of speech and freedom of the press were societal values in very few places. In fact, luminaries such as John Locke, Galileo Galilei and Hugo Grotius chose to publish with the Elzevirs in order to avoid the censorship and regulation in their own countries.

Lowys (Louis) Elzevir and six generations after him ensured the success of their publishing house in Leiden by developing a strong relationship with the university there, for which they printed theses and reprints of classic texts. One family member or another would serve as both beadle, or peace officer, on campus and official printer, until in 1712, the last of the original Elzevir family publishers died, leaving behind no heir willing to continue the business. During its existence, the House of Elzevir published some 2,000 to 3,000 titles, including reprints of virtually all the major works of classical antiquity. Quite an achievement even by today’s standards!

The modern Elsevier was founded in Rotterdam 125 years ago by Jacobus George Robbers to continue the tradition of printing fine editions of literary classics. After World War II, Elsevier began to lead the way in international science publishing, and later, added the expertise of highly respected companies and imprints, such as Academic Press, Excerpta Medica, Churchill Livingstone, Mosby, Pergamon, Saunders, Urban & Fischer and others. Thus, from 1880, the new company grew to the leader it is now, playing a vital role in bringing scientific and health information to researchers and practitioners the world over.

For a more detailed history of Elsevier download a PDF copy of the recently published booklet “A Short History of Elsevier.”

“A Book in Your Name”

To mark these two important anniversaries our “A Book in Your Name” program invites each of Elsevier’s 6,700 employees to choose one of 10 libraries in developing countries to receive a book from a core collection of our most important and widely used scientific, technical and medical publications. The program aims to link the individual action of our employees to a collective company effort to share scientific and health knowledge around the world. The books will be donated by Elsevier and given to the respective libraries in the employee’s names.

An Advisory Panel of distinguished librarians, who have worked to support the growth of libraries in need throughout the world, helped select the beneficiary libraries. They are Ibrahima Bob of Africa Consultants International in Senegal, an NGO specializing in communication for development and President of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA); Derek Law, Head of the Information Resources Directorate, Professor in the Department of Computing, and Head of the Centre for Digital Library Research at the University of Strathclyde; Tony McSeán, Director of Library Relations at Elsevier, and previously Director of the British Medical Association Library for 16 years; and Lenny Rhine, Assistant Director for Collection Management at the University of Florida Health Sciences Libraries and compiler of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) Health Links gateway as well as the INASP Library Partnership Database. Speaking about the scheme, Professor Rhine said, ”This donation will represent a huge addition to the individual collections of these libraries. It is good to know that these books will be working very hard indeed as soon as they touch the shelves. Respective faculties and students will quickly begin to utilize these new resources.”

The 10 recipient libraries are located in Africa, South America and Asia. They include the Library of the Sciences of the University of Sierra Leone; the library of the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; the library of the College of Medicine of the University of Malawi; and the libraries of the University of Zambia, Université du Mali, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, Makererer University in Uganda, Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador; Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala; and the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Information (NACESTI) in Vietnam.

Watch for a roundup of the program results, including pictures and comments from participants and recipients in a later issue of LC.

What are“Elzevirs”?

The word “Elzevirs” connotes small original reprints of the classics or scholarly books of diminutive proportions which could be carried in one’s pocket. In the late 19th century, they were avidly collected and greatly prized, because the old House of Elzevir produced such a superb, respected body of work.