Gelman Library
Encyclopedia
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
of The George Washington University, located on its Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. The area is thought to have received the name because its riverside location made it susceptible to concentrations of fog and industrial smoke, an atmospheric trait that did not prevent the neighborhood...
campus. The Gelman Library, The Eckles Library on the Mount Vernon campus
Mount Vernon College for Women
Mount Vernon College for Women was a private women's college in Washington, D.C. It merged with George Washington University in 1999 and is now known as the Mount Vernon Campus of The George Washington University....
and the Virginia Science and Technology Campus Library
George Washington University Virginia Campus
George Washington University Virginia Graduate Campus is the campus of George Washington University in the Ashburn area of unincorporated Loudoun County, Virginia, United States.-External links:*...
in Ashburn comprise the trio known as the George Washington University Libraries. The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library and the Jacob Burns Law Library also serve the university. The Gelman Library is a member of the Washington Research Library Consortium
Washington Research Library Consortium
The Washington Research Library Consortium was founded as a joint initiative of eight members of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area to coordinate access and increase the scope of resources of each university's main library....
and the Association of Research Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...
.
The seven-story library building contains over two million volumes. Gelman Library is constructed in the Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
of the 1970s. It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs. For most of the year, parts of the library are open 24 hours day, seven days per week for use by students, faculty and staff. The library's seventh floor is home to the National Security Archive
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located in the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1985 by Scott Armstrong, it archives and publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of US...
, a research institution that publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of American foreign policy. It was a National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
request that eventually made the Central Intelligence Agency's
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
so-called "Family Jewels
Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)
The Family Jewels is the informal name used to refer to a set of reports that detail activities conducted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Considered illegal or inappropriate, these actions were conducted over the span of decades, from the 1950s to the mid-1970s...
" public.
The seventh floor is also home to the Special Collections Research Center, Kiev Library, and Global Resources Center. Special Collections offers researchers a wide array of primary and secondary resources, as well as a large Washingtonia collection. Specializing in Hebrew and Judaica, the Kiev Library houses the leading collection of modern Judaica, rare books, maps, and archival materials related to Judaic studies among universities in the Washington, D.C. area. The Global Resource Center possesses numerous sources focusing on the twentieth century to present day that analyze political, socio-economic, historical, and cultural aspects of countries and regions from around the world.
The base floor of Gelman features a Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
. The library is at the corner of 22nd and H Streets and is adjacent to Kogan Plaza.
With the death of Estelle Gelman on October 23, 2009, the Library honored a promise made to the Gelman family to rename the Melvin Gelman Library with its new name, the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library. On September 28, 2010, a small family gathering with remarks by President Steven Knapp celebrated Estelle Gelman's life and formally rededicated the building.
In 2010, students have made improvements to the Gelman Library a major target of their advocacy efforts at the university.