Thanks to donors, this year ACOR was able to realize a long-held dream to improve our Library by installing movable compression shelving in the Lower Library.

In 2006 Roger S. Boraas,[*] one of ACOR’s six founding fathers, and his wife Aina initiated an ACOR Library support fund that grew steadily thanks to their personal donations and those of other family members and friends. By summer 2015, this fund reached $25,000, which covered all the costs of installing these eleven movable shelving units. The ACOR Library can now continue to expand and grow with new acquisitions and thus help us fulfill our mission to advance knowledge of Jordan past and present.

To initiate the project, ACOR first had an engineering firm assess the carrying capacity of the floor. ACOR thanks Consolidated Consulting Group for the pro bono contribution of their engineers’ work for this study. ACOR’s building manager Abed Adawi prepared the space, and in August he and Library staff supervised moving ten map cases to the adjacent “computer” room; he then undertook the demolition of a study carrel, before painting the walls for a fresh look. In September technicians from the Ayoubi Steel Furniture Factory installed the shelving. During the whole process ACOR’s housekeeping trio ensured that our facility was clean and useable. Once all the shelving was in place, the Library staff (and interns) took over and moved the books! These units now house Arabic volumes and ACOR’s complete journal holdings.

We know that students and scholars in Jordan will appreciate the newly arranged ACOR Library. For those who donate to ACOR’s Annual Fund and Annual Library Support as well as the Roger S. Boraas Library Support Fund, we thank you, as we do those who have given books to the Library over the years. You can see how these donations have made a huge difference! Many thanks/Shukran Gazilan!

[*] See ACOR Newsletter Vol. 26.2—Winter 2014 (p. 9)

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