Hebraic Section of the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room at the Library of Congress

The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) of the Library of Congress was created in 1978 by combining three sections — African, Hebraic, and Near East, which cover 77 countries and regions from Southern Africa to the Maghreb and from the Middle East to Central Asia.

Each section plays a vital role in the Library’s acquisitions program; offers expert reference and bibliographic services to the Congress and researchers in this country and abroad; develops projects, special events, and publications; and cooperates and participates with other institutions and scholarly and professional associations in the US and abroad.

The Hebraic Section began operation in 1914 as part of the Division of Semitic and Oriental Literature, and concentrates on Jewish culture, Israel, the Hebrew language, Biblical studies, and the ancient Near East.
Today, AMED is recognized as a major world resource center for Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The Hebraic and Near East sections have custody of material in the non-Roman-alphabet languages of the region. Included in these collections are books, periodicals, newspapers, microforms, and rarities including cuneiform tablets, manuscripts, incunabula (works printed before 1501) and other early African and Middle Eastern publications; in 2008, together they number over 650,000 volumes. The Hebraic Section collections contain more than 180,000 volumes in Hebrew and related languages, including Yiddish, Ladino, Syriac, and the languages of Ethiopia.
The new AMED reading room houses a 10,000 volume reference collection and a rotating display of current events journals, arranged and maintained by each of the three sections. Researchers may consult specialists who readily provide in-depth reference assistance in identifying materials in their custodial collection as well as related sources in Roman script and in other formats or specializations found in the Library of Congress collections
The Division holds a number of cultural and scholarly programs and conferences every year. The Hebraic section holds regular lecture series on topics related to its collections including the annual Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lectures on the Hebraic Book. The section also includes Ethiopia.
Another role of the Division is to facilitate projects that enhance access to the collections through digitization of the collections, online exhibits, and publications and catalogues highlighting the Division’s collections and exhibits.

Location

101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC, DC 20540