The Books in Bill Clinton’s Donation1,

Abstract

In 1998, President Clinton donated five hundred English-language books about the United States to the Peking University Library in a high-profile tribute to the role of academic institutions in China’s sociopolitical development during the twentieth century. However, few people know that this canny donation was quietly preceded in 1995 by a gift from the Peking University Library of five hundred Chinese-language books about China to a small U.S. academic library. Although they had different motives and outcomes, these donations indicate a promising role for academic library exchanges in China–U.S. relations and demonstrate the potential benefits of international librarianship in general.