Notes on the Harvard Libraries - Harvard Library Bulletin, Volume XXI.1 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Williams, Edwin E. 1973. Notes on the Harvard Libraries - Harvard Library Bulletin, Volume XXI.1. Harvard Library Bulletin XXI (1), January 1973: 104-110. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37364162 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA NOTES ON THE HARVARD LIBRARIES LA:BIB Zu,v1YYA-YAr-.IA"K, t92.6-I972. AN INDOJvI ITAnJ T. n1an.,sstruggle ··with di5ab]ing illness ended on 1,Scptcrnbcr 1971 ,v jth th c <lcath of L.ahi h Zu,v i y ya-Y anrnk, Assistant Librarian for th c J\1.idd]cEastern CoHccrions in the I-I:1rvard Col1cgc Library and Associate 1n the Center for 1'1iddle Eastern Sn1dies. Representing his colleagues at a service in Ha rv-ard' l\ 1cm o rial Ch,1rch on 2 7 Septcn1ber I Ed ·win E. lV .il]1am$ 1 Associatc Uni vcrs it y Libra ri:1n,spo le as f o]Io,v.s - h,iVe have lost an admin1b]e schojar and librarian~ a coUeague and friend ,vho \von our deep affcction'.Ia truly good man. This University and its Library have been built by n1cn and ,,.•orncn \Vho chose to devote thcn1sch,.cs to Harl'ard, bringing their ,videly di,·erse interests and theil' great variet~y· of skills and kno-.v]edge from many CO\lntde..s:.One of these VlaS LabiL l.u\viyya-Yarnak+ He ha<lthe gou<lfurtunc to find iri the Harvard I ..il)rnry an opportunity to <lo ,vhat he n1ost \Vantcd to do,. and Harvard ,vas. cque.Hyfortlln:atc, for he ,vas the rjght man "rho can1e at the right tin1e to build and organize its j\1idd1e Eastern collectjons~ A bond of fello,vship unites those ,vho are devoted to the Library, and no one - rhoug h descended from scores <l f Ff arva rd an cestoffi - hrt-~h red more f uily and cordially in that f cUo\vship than La bib. ,<~L-abib"ras born in I_rCbanonon 11 January 192 6. His bac:::cala•ircatedegree (in philosophy) and j\LA. (in political science) ,vcrc earned at the An1crican Uni,·crsity in Bdrut+ Subsequently he ""as a,\·arded a 111aster'sdegree in librar- ianship by Columllja University ~nd a doctorate in political science by the Uni~ vrrsity of l\1ichigan. 1-Ic taught in Lebanon, at the Amedcan University and at l\'iaguasi<l College, for several years; he also begat1 his library career -at the An1erica. n University~ as Arabic c:1tal ogu er f ron1 J 9 54 to 1956 and then as head of technical processes from 1956 to 1958. ''Labib catnc to Harvard in 1959 as i\1idd]e Eastern Specialist in the College Library; three years Jater the l\-iiddle E.astcrn J)jvjsion '\Vas.urganized 1 ,vith L'1bib at its head. The decade dudng ,,·hich. he ,vas in clrn.rgc of the Middle E~.~tern co 11c ction , vas the er ucial one in its d ev elo pm ent. ,,, hen he catn e in 195 9, the Library had sorn e 4,000 h ool<s in Arabic., and their organ iz'1tion 1cf t much to be desired. By 196B there ,vere 30.,000 Arabic volun1cs1 plus 5 ~soo jn Persian and 4,000 .in Ottoman Turkish. The collection ,,,as ,vell classified and catalogued, nnd \\'as being heavily used by scho1ars. Building upon a rclativeJy \rery sma 11accumu 1a tion f ron1 earlier years._I ...abib and his a~sociates in th c J\11id- d1 e T Ea stern D jvi sion created a. disri ngu ishcd library of 40.,000 vol times, supp! e- nl en t ed by thousands n1ore in " ..~tern languages; he had been responsible for selection and acq tl isi ti on of som cthi ng like fi "lc-sh..1:hs of th j s tOtfl l. 104 Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 1 (January 1973) Notes ou tbe Harvard Libraries 105 i,:The best account of I-Iarvard 's !viid d Ic Eastern co] 1c.ctio n is an a rticlc that J... abib ,vrote for the I-IARVARD LHnlARY IluLLE1'lN in l 968, and this appeared also as his Preface to the five-vo]ume Catalogue of Arabic, PersirTJJ,and Otto111a11 T'llrkisb Books that ,-vas pub]ished by the Library during the same year. This catalogue is: an ou~t~nding hihliogr:1pbical contribudon. 1 used claily by schobrs in the Hbrarics of n1any countdcs. It is also imprcssjvc ~nd enduring evidence of the a ch ieven1e11t of La bib an u 11js associa tcs in the l\.1id d le Eastern Di \Tj sion. In a Jjbrary ~sold and as forge :.:isHarvardls 1 it is rarely possible to identify so clearly ,vhat has been accon1pljshedby any indivjdual and his sta.fft but Lc1bibhad nn unusual opportunity and made good nsc of it. "The collection \Vi1Icontinue to gro,v; there ,vj]l be supplcincnts to its cata- ]ogue and eventuaJI_v nc,v editions. Hut Labibls place Jn the history of the Library is c:learJyevident and ,-vill ahvays remain so: Under his dircction 1 ,vith a great deal of his o,vn h~rd ,vork as "\Vdlas the unusual qua1itic.sof leadership ~nd the ]ivcly intelligence that he hrought to hcari a rather S1na1l:1nd un- di sti n guis h c-d i\1id d] c Eastern co Ilcctj on b cca1n c a. grca t c 011cct ion, and its 6 r:st published ca.ta]oguc ,vas 1nadc avajlab]e to the scholar]y ·w·or]d. Labib ,,rrote that '!--larvard} s /\1 id d le Eastern coJl ec tions pron1 ise to be useful so Jong as sc ho] ars study the significant chapter nf the hun1an experience that these collections record. J To this it should 1)c add cd that La bib hiins elf ,vill be ren1cn1 b crcd gratefully ,vhifo these collcctjons arc used -long after those of us \Vho kne,v h.i1nare gone. "[Despite all that he ,vas doing for the Harvard Lihrn.ry-~he found time to ad- vjse the U oi vcrsity of Pc n ns y 1va nia and to scn"'c as Cha inna n of the Ass:ocj a ti on of R <:scarel 1 Libraries c omrn ittce on l\1 id d le Eastern reso 11re es. Des pi re his library career, he did not abandon research and scho]arship; he ,vas an Assocfate of the Center for i\-1iddle Ea~tern Studies and, assisted Ly a Ford Foundation fcl1o\vship, he ,vrote Tbe Syrian Social Nationalist Party: An Ideological Anal- ysis'J"'hich ,vas published by the Harvard University Press in 1966~ 'iHe did not ]et lihrarinnship and research take up aU of his titnci for he \\~as also devoted to his friends and his fa11lHy.Irle had demonstrated good judg- ment by n1arrying a Jibra r ianr Lo is Ha rdc r, a cl assma re j n the schou] of libra r- fanship at Colum bfa. L-ubib i.vas f ortu natc ind cc d in his f n1il y- in L oj s nnd j n their daughtcrst Deborah and Sandra. "'Lsbib ,\·as a remarkab]y agre-cable person, ah,·ays a cheerful colleague, al- ,vays an entertain1ng cnrnprtnion. He \',·~s genuinely ,vi tty\ ns only ::1 highly in- tc11igcntman cnn be. These plcosant qua1itics on the surface ,vcrc hacked up by integr j ty and streng d L of ch a:rac ter tl 1·,n cemented true friendships. '°'So LaLib, in his early forties" ,vas an unusually gifted And unusua.11}'!fortu- nate 1nan - out~tandingly qualified to <lo the \Vork he ]ovcd, ,vcl1 liked by his associates, ma.nyof ,Yhom became his friends! happy in his family. There should Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 1 (January 1973) 106 H ar-vardJ_jbr ary Bulletin have b cc n many-further years of a c hic,rcm cnt and hap pjncss. It is difficult co accept tl 1e fact th at there ,verc not. ,iit is n1uch harder still to confront the fact of those fast ycc1rs of his in1prison- 1nent by relentless illness. L-abib ,vas stilt there throughout -the keen n1ind and irrepressib]c spirit. There :'.lreno ,,•ords: for his gal1anrry. I·Ic ,vas never de- feated. He and Lois ,vere never defeated, for he ,vas not alone. 1 ~ Some of us might like to forget, or try to forget:1-those years. They are over no,v-must they be remembered? Bot Labib deserved unscntim~ntnl, honest f rl ends. Ii -avin g promjscd hitn n1 ny on t hs a go to speak here \Vhcn the time cam ci I 1nust tell the truth a.s I understand it. ''"f his truth is th~ t I s ho 11l d be u n\v l Ui ng to f orgc.t those 1~st y cars c,,..cn if I could.. For this there :1re qui re sc1 fish - and u tilit:iri-an - r casons.