Earlier this month, a special philatelic delivery from Canada arrived at the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) in Bellefonte, Penn., where more than 100 boxes of philatelic journals and auction catalogues joined the library’s collection.
“Its journey from Ontario to Pennsylvania was just the last part of a happy story of international library cooperation,” reads a recent post on Philatelic Literature & Research, the official blog of the APRL.
Last year, staff of the Harry Sutherland Philatelic Library at the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation—one of the partners in the David Straight Memorial Philatelic Union Catalog—referred Helen Apouchtine, senior co-ordinator and team leader for Library and Archives Canada (LAC), to the APRL.
Last summer, Apouchtine contacted the APRL to ask if the library wanted materials that were being removed from LAC collections, adding the LAC’s policy has “evolved and we are now focused on acquiring titles published in Canada, by Canadian authors if published abroad or if there is substantial Canadian content.”
Included in the list was more than 900 major philatelic serials issued by numerous foreign publishers, some with long runs beginning around the beginning of the 20th century. LAC also offered a list of catalogues issued by nearly 700 auction houses. Both of these donations will assist the APRL in filling gaps in its collection.
The delivery of 114 boxes of journals and catalogues arrived on Jan. 13.