If you’ve ever visited GIA in Carlsbad, as I have many times, I’m positive you’ll agree it is an exceptionally beautiful campus. The stunning view of the Pacific Ocean and the way the impressively open architecture draws in nature is worth the trip.

Each year, however, hundreds of people, both students and the general public, go to GIA’s world headquarters not just because of its location, but because they know the Institute is, by far, the source of gemological information. This is especially true of the Richard T. Liddicoat Library and Information Center. Many of you may not know, but this wonderful resource that serves members and non-members of the gem and jewelry industry is the largest gemological library in the world.

It contains more than 60,000 items on record, including books, periodicals, trade publications and visual media on just about everything related to gems and minerals. The Library’s most valued items are housed in the Cartier Rare Book Repository and Archives, a climate-controlled room.

Preservation and expansion of the library collection is the reason GIA created the Library Endowment Fund. Its purpose is to provide critical funds needed to ensure the Library’s continued service to GIA students, the industry and the public.

This mission, however, can be expensive. Additional funds can help expand the Library’s resources and programs. There is also a need to convert many of its books, journals and visual resources to digital format for a two-fold benefit: to preserve the physical material and to better serve the industry by making the information available on DVD and the Internet.

Meeting these and other needs with generous contributions to the Library Endow-ment Fund will ensure GIA remains the source of gemological information well into the future and will strengthen an invaluable resource that’s available to all of us. I invite you to consider a donation to this important fund.

Matt Stuller
Chairman, GIA Endowment Campaign