Pitt's University Library System Receives One-of-a-kind Japanese Book Collection Valued at More Than $1.5 Million

PITTSBURGH—Pitt's University Library System (ULS) recently has received a book and periodical collection valued at more than $1.5 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, formerly Mitsui Bank, in Tokyo, Japan.

The Mitsui Collection contains 64,199 volumes written in Japanese and Western languages and contains information from the mid-19th to the late-20th centuries. It encompasses the following subjects: banking and finance, social sciences, labor problems, social movements, law, politics, and a history of the company and its local geographic area.

"Great collections are an important part of what makes a great university," said Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. "The richness of the Mitsui Collection is extraordinary. It is a rare treasure from which students, scholars, and the community at large will benefit in perpetuity. "

The Mitsui Collection will serve as an educational and research tool for students and professionals in Japanese programs affiliated with the University's Asian Studies Center as well as similar programs at institutions throughout the world. The addition of this collection will more than double the Japanese holdings of Pitt's East Asian Library.

"We are deeply grateful to the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for the donation of this important research collection to the University of Pittsburgh's library system. I am confident that it will help facilitate scholarship regarding all aspects of Japanese history within the United States," said Hillman University Librarian Rush G. Miller, director of ULS.

When Mitsui Bank and Sumitomo Corporation merged, the Mitsui Collection became available to the University. To finance the shipping of the collection materials, the SMBC Global Foundation, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, donated an additional $85,000 to the University.

Pitt's ULS is the 26th-largest academic research library in North America and the 16th-largest among the public libraries of the prestigious 62-member Association of American Universities. It provides a large array of innovative world-class services and collections.

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5/27/05/tmw