Documentation, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences et techniques communes, Sciences and techniques of general use, Sciences de l'information. Documentation, Information science. Documentation, Sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques. Etude d'ensemble, Library and information science. General aspects, Economie de l'information. Politique d'information, Information economics. Information policy, Autres aspects politiques ou économiques, Other economic or political aspects, Sciences de l'information et de la communication, Information and communication sciences, Bibliothèque enseignement supérieur, Higher education library, Biblioteca enseñanza superior, Culture, Cultivo, Donation, Donación, Livre, Book, Libro, Politique information, Information policy, Política información, Programme, Program, Programa, Subvention, Subsidy, Subvención, and ASLA (Grants from Finland's American loan)

This essay examines the political and historical context, implementation, and effects of the ASLA program and especially how it was used to fund the purchase of American books for Finnish academic libraries during the years 1950-67. In 1949 the U.S. Congress passed a law (P.L. 81-265) that transformed Finnish payments on the loans acquired from the United States after World War I into a fund. Out of the fund, grants for travel in the United States were given to Finnish researchers and specialists. Finnish institutions of higher education were given grants in order to acquire American scientific and scholarly books as well as technical equipment. In Finland the program is known according to its Finnish acronym: ASLA (Amerikan Suomen lainan apurahat, or Grants from Finland's American Loan). Today it is called the ASLA-Fulbright program. The essay describes the relation of the ASLA program to the United States, cultural diplomacy in general, and how the program influenced Finnish academic libraries. Sources include published congressional documents and Finnish archival sources, especially papers of the Helsinki University Library, its chief librarian, Lauri O. Th. Tudeer, and the Council (later Board) of Scientific Libraries.

Documentation, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences et techniques communes, Sciences and techniques of general use, Sciences de l'information. Documentation, Information science. Documentation, Sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques. Etude d'ensemble, Library and information science. General aspects, Economie de l'information. Politique d'information, Information economics. Information policy, Autres aspects politiques ou économiques, Other economic or political aspects, Gestion des services d'information, Information service management, Gestion des bibliothèques et des centres de documentation, Library and documentation centre management, Gestion des collections, Collection management, Acquisition et accès : politique de développement, licences, censure, Acquisition and access: development policy, licenses, censorship, Sciences de l'information et de la communication, Information and communication sciences, Activité bibliothèque, Library activity, Actividad biblioteca, Aspect culturel, Cultural aspect, Aspecto cultural, Bibliothèque, Library, Biblioteca, Bibliothéconomie, Librarianship, Biblioteconomía, Censure, Censorship, Censura, Idéologie, Ideology, Ideología, Politique, Policy, Política, Guerre froide, and Politique étrangère

The author examines the international rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and how ideological premises were used to bring libraries into the conflict. In the aftermath of World War II, the two superpowers were left with international hostilities that carried over into cultural institutions. Libraries served as important tools in the implementation of their respective governments' foreign policy. Instruments used in the Soviet Union were the Ministry of Culture's journal, Bibliotekar', and the Communist party's Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). Bibliotekar' targeted public librarians and influenced them against the perceived capitalist agenda of imperialism abroad. As a result, many libraries became involved in a campaign to raise domestic consciousness toward international foreign policy. Comecon concentrated on subsidizing higher education in librarianship to foreign students, and many foreign countries, financed by the Soviet Union, joined in the campaign. The United States was limited in ways to influence library collections. However, the Foreign Agents Registration Act enforced by the U.S. Congress was one way, through U.S. Customs, to stop the flow of Soviet materials into the United States. Another way was through the United States Department of State Libraries (USIS), controlled by the United States Information Agency (USIA). Overseas USIS libraries were forced to support American foreign policy. McCarthyism in America and socialism in Communist countries had a large impact on political agendas. Consequently, political philosophies developed during the Cold War curtailed national library activities and by the same token affected international foreign policy.