Library funds

Bibliodiversity Fund

The Faculty Library Committee is mindful of diversity in its offerings. Less heard or less obvious voices also deserve a place in an academic library.

The Bibliodiversity Fund finances books that either

• were published in 'the Global South': books published outside the EU-18, Norway, Switzerland and the Anglo-Saxon world and appeared in one of the school languages (Dutch, English, French, German or Spanish), or
• were originally published in 'the Global South' (see above) and later appeared in translation in another country outside this 'Global South'.

If one thinks that a book is eligible to be purchased with this Bibliodiversity Fund, one can indicate this in the online order form.

Digital First

The FBC decided to set up two funds to give more backing to the 'digital first' policy option. In reality, this policy option all too often ran up against practical objections: its cost. The cost of buying the electronic version of a book is often noticeably higher than that of the paper version. Even though no one needs to be convinced of the benefits of the e-version of a book, price too often proved a stumbling block. In response, the FBC launched a fund for the purchase of e-books that will bear 25% of the price. A fair 'discount' that will hopefully increase the share of e-books in the library collections. Currently, roughly 10% of all new books are digital copies.
With a second fund, the FBC hopes to encourage departments and research groups to invest in electronic databases.