The Judaica Division of the Harvard College Library has received a grant of $500,000 from the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation of New York to support the Library's efforts to endow two positions. These positions are key to producing Judaica computerized cataloging data, particularly for Hebraica, an endeavor that is central to the national Judaica cataloging enterprise.

Thanking the Littauer Foundation, Nancy Cline, Roy E. Larsen Librarian of Harvard College, stated: "Among the Library's highest priorities is to endow librarianships for the Judaica Division. Achieving this level of endowment guarantees that the Harvard College Library will always have the necessary resources to sustain the vital services that it provides nationally and internationally in the area of Jewish Studies. The Littauer Foundation's very generous grant in support of this effort is yet another example of the extraordinary role that the Littauer Foundation has had in supporting the development of the Harvard Judaica Collection and in assuring its future as an international resource for scholarship."

According to Charles Berlin '58, Lee M. Friedman Bibliographer in Judaica and head of the Judaica Division, this grant is the "latest in a series of major Littauer benefactions in support of Judaica at the Harvard College Library over nearly 70 years -- beginning with gifts by Lucius N. Littauer, Class of 1878, and continued by the Littauer Foundation. In addition to numerous Judaica Book Funds, the Littauer Foundation provided major endowments for a Judaica preservation program (1980), for the Littauer Hebraica Technical and Research Services Librarianship (1991), and for Judaica library student assistantships (1996)."

The president of the Littauer Foundation, William Lee Frost '47, stated: "The Foundation has long recognized the critical role of the Harvard Judaica Collection in the field of Jewish Studies and in world scholarship. This gift will help to assure Harvard's central role in perpetuity and underscore the importance of endowed librarianships in building and maintaining a strong library."

"The Littauer Foundation gift is most timely," observed Jonathan M. Silver '79, President of the Friends of the Harvard Judaica Collection. "Our highest priority over the next three years is to secure endowments for those Judaica librarian positions in the Division that are not yet fully endowed, and thus to assure in perpetuity the permanence of the Library's vital contribution to the national and international Judaica research library network and to the scholarly community. This grant of $500,000 is a giant step towards our goal of $4.5 million, and we are grateful for the Foundation's very generous support and encouragement."

Cline noted that the grant "focuses attention on the need for funding positions -- traditionally one of the most difficult aspects of library programs for which to seek funds. The Littauer Foundation has been a steadfast leader in providing the type of library support that has been the hardest to obtain, whether for preservation purposes or for positions. We deeply appreciate the many ways in which the Littauer Foundation has contributed to the strength and visibility of our endeavors and are most grateful for the Foundation's very generous support and encouragement of Judaica in the Harvard College Library."

The Harvard Judaica Collection, the largest on an American university campus, is one of the world's major collections in its field and has the largest collection of Israeli and Israel-related materials outside the State of Israel. Some 390 Judaica library endowment funds support the work of the Library's Judaica Division in carrying out its mission of the documentation of the Jewish people throughout history in order to support teaching and research at Harvard and to serve as a resource for the national and international scholarly community.