PLCMC Partners for Asian Materials
In exchange for supplying a clerk, library gets access to 80,000 items
By Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 6/15/2002
The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), NC, has cut an intriguing deal, forming an alliance with a local businessman and book collector that will provide citizens with access to a large collection of Asian materials. PLCMC Director Bob Cannon told LJ that area entrepreneur Ki-Hyun Chun, who privately runs the Asian Herald Library from the offices of his CPA firm, initially approached the library: "He will open his collection to the general public, and all he wants from us is a clerk and to do collaborative programs."
Cannon said that Chun collects books from all over Asia as well as titles in English—approximately 80,000 in all (48,000 Asian-language titles)—spending as much as $100,000 annually. "The books are arranged by language, title, and subject…they're not cataloged in the traditional manner," Cannon said, adding the library does not initially intend to catalog the materials.
Cannon said it's a win-win situation for both parties. The Asian Herald Library previously was open to the public on a very limited basis, but PLCMC will increase the hours, including access on Saturdays.
