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In an effort to reduce costs, and strengthen the research and academic credentials of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, the two branches of the WCC Library will be merged into one library facility at the institute.

The consolidation means closing of the library located at the WCC headquarters in the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland, and moving its collections to Bossey, which is located about 15 kms from the WCC offices.

The library consolidation is expected to be completed by the end of June 2012, in time for the arrival of the 2012/13 student body. The Geneva branch will close by 31 January, 2012.

"The decision to consolidate the two branches of the WCC Library was very difficult to make,” said Georges Lemopoulos, deputy general secretary of the WCC. “However, we saw an opportunity to strengthen our efforts at Bossey by offering a full ecumenical library to the students at the institute."

“The WCC archives, which houses thousands of historic documents and files related to the ecumenical movement and work of the WCC, will remain in Geneva,” Lemopoulos added. “This is the most precious legacy of the ecumenical movement and will be strengthened overtime.”

During the next several months a transition team comprising WCC staff, professors at Bossey, representatives from the WCC sister agencies in the Ecumenical Centre and the University of Geneva will determine the final content and profile of the single library. They will also review what moves to the Archives from this collection.

The involvement of the University of Geneva in the transition reflects a long term academic relationship between the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and the university.

"The advantage of this consolidation, beyond a reduction in costs over the long term, is the future development of the WCC library, which goes hand-in-hand with development of the Bossey institute, as an international centre of ecumenical research and formation," Lemopoulos said.

"We see this as an important step to further the ecumenical movement and look forward to future growth of the library in the context of an academic institute,” Lemopoulos said.

More information on the WCC Library

Ecumenical Institute at Bossey