Welcome to the Library of the E. F. Schumacher Society.
Housed in South Egremont, Massachusetts, the library is
a 12,000 volume collection of materials focusing on decentralism
and exploring the viability of ecologically, economically,
and socially responsible societies, built on the ideal
of human scale. Established in 1990 to meet the growing
need for a research library to preserve and make accessible
the rich decentralist tradition, the library has become
home to a number of special
collections and archives. The library has been thoroughly
indexed and cataloged and the collection may be searched
on-line, providing a unique tool for individuals researching
community economics. Researchers and community activists
visiting this collection have been led directly to the
economic, social, and environmental building blocks they
need to re-shape society.
The General Collection
The library’s general collection contains a core body
of theoretical and practical knowledge on a wide variety
of subjects. Topics include appropriate technology, development
of renewable sources of energy, land reform, peace and nonviolent
resistance, democratic governance, worker ownership, alternative
agriculture, and environmental sustainability. The collection
is highly regarded for its focus on bioregional and community-based
economic development and has been praised as “the single
most important US information source for anyone researching
community economics”* The alternative economic material
found in this collection has been used extensively by the
Schumacher Society to develop models for micro-lending,
local currencies, and community land trusts, as well as
by researchers from around the world working to catalyze
urban and rural grassroots economic renewal.
Additional Holdings
In addition to the general book collection, the library
also includes periodicals, many previously unpublished manuscripts
and hard-to-find articles, audio- and video-taped interviews
and documentaries, and a number of special
collections and archives, including Fritz
Schumacher’s 2500 volume personal library.
The E. F. Schumacher Society Library Catalog
The library catalog is accessible on-line via the easy-to-use
library database program from CASPR,
and can be searched for titles, authors, specific collections,
and keywords. The majority of the holdings have been indexed
with the keywords (subject headings) assigned by the Library
of Congress. More specific keywords were added when standard
classification seemed too general to reflect adequately
the unconventional and often cutting-edge literature in
the library. A Selected Keyword
Index facilitates the identification of alternative
and decentralist materials that might be overlooked by standard
keyword searches.
Library Development
Although the library is a non-lending, research collection,
open by appointment, its catalog is available on-line. We
hope this will lead students, educators, and activists directly
to material that can then be requested at their local libraries.
An extensive outreach program is currently being developed
and will include the creation of annotated bibliographies
on specific topics. A major portion of the outreach effort
will focus on introducing young people—our future leaders—to
the ideas of Fritz Schumacher. It is our hope that the library
collection will contribute significantly to the growing
momentum carrying us toward a more rational, just, and appropriate-scale
society.
*Richard Douthwaite, Short Circuit: Strengthening Local
Economies for Security in an Unstable World. (Totnes, Devon,
England: Green Books, 1996). Comments
about the library
Schumacher's Archives || Additional Individual Collections
Use the Selected Keyword Index
Search the Library || Library Home Page
Search the Archives
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