Library: General Collection

Welcome to the Library of the New Economics Institute. Housed in South Egremont, Massachusetts, the library is a 15,000 volume collection of materials focusing on decentralism and exploring the viability of ecologically, economically, and socially responsible societies that are 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 access 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 New Economics Institute 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In addition to the general book collection, the library also includes periodicals, many previously unpublished manuscripts and hard-to-find articles, audio and video-taped interviews and documentaries, and a number of special collections and archives, including Fritz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 online via the easy-to-use library database program from LibraryWorld, and books can be searched by title, author, specific collection, 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 adequately reflect 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.

Schumacher's Library and Archives || Additional Individual Collections
 || Library Home Page/Search Library Catalog

*Richard Douthwaite, Short Circuit: Strengthening Local Economies for Security in an Unstable World. (Totnes, Devon, England: Green Books, 1996).