The Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) has provided the Hector Hodler Library with a small operating grant of $8000 to assist it in cataloguing and administrative work. One of the world’s largest collections of Esperanto books and other materials, the library is housed at the headquarters of the Universal Esperanto Association in the Netherlands city of Rotterdam.
With over 30,000 books, thousands of periodical titles, and a rich manuscript collection, the Hodler Library is a collection of international importance. It was founded as the Swiss Esperanto Library in 1908, survived World War II in the cellar of the Palais Wilson, in Geneva, and was transferred to the Netherlands in 1960.
“Strengthening and maintaining the Hodler Library is vitally important for all scholars of Esperanto,” remarked Humphrey Tonkin, president of ESF, who has conducted research in the library in the past. “The Foundation is glad to serve as an example to others in making this contribution to support the Hodler Library. We hope others will do the same.”
The Foundation was also able to arrange for transportation of the papers of the recently deceased former president of the Esperanto Academy, Dr. André Albault, to the Austrian National Library in Vienna, which holds the world’s largest collection of research materials on Esperanto and planned languages.
The North-American-based Esperantic Studies Foundation supports scholarship, teaching, and research in all aspects of planned languages and in modes of communication across languages.