The Eric Friedheim Library and & News Information Cente

The Eric Friedheim Library (EFL) provides specialized research and education services for reporters, editors and other members of the news media.
The library lives inside the National Press Club (NPC). But even though it is in the club, it is not of the club.
The library is located on the 13^th floor of the National Press Building, just inside the entrance to the press club proper. But it is a separate 501©(3) nonprofit organization with its own legal identity.
The library provides its research and education services to the general public at modest prices.
I have used it fom time to time for decades in my work as a reporter, researcher and author.
I have always found the information resources to be helpful, and sometimes to be almost priceless.
Frequently, the library resources and staff have been able to advance a story or a research project dramatically or to quash a doomed project very quickly and cheaply.
This library’s advantages arise partly because its resources have been customized for journalists’ needs, in contrast to those of general public libraries.
Also, the library staff has an extremely useful knowledge of the other specialist libraries in Washington and the region.
That’s important because most of the important technical and scientific trade associations and professional societies in this city include specialist libraries with tightly focused resources. Those resources sometimes can be very expensive and not available elsewhere.
For example, subscriptions to some specialist periodicals and databases can cost many thousands of dollars annually.
On a similar note, visiting the Library O’Congress can be an exercise in futility unless you know which of that organization’s many divisions to approach.
The EFL staff typically knows the ins and outs of the Library O’Congress and can provide very useful advice.
This library avoids the vices of university libraries and the Library O’Congress. Both of those cultures sometimes come across as hidebound, bureaucratic and self-​consciously «scholastic» (rather than scholarly).
The EFL charges $ 89.00 for an annual membership. Users can buy a one-​day library pass for $ 5.00. Day-​trippers get access to the reading room, computer facilities and limited research services.
Press club membership dues include membership in the EFL. Membership in the press club is open to bona fide journalists, who join as «active members» and can vote in club elections.
Public relations workers join as «associate members.’ They can’t vote in NPC elections. Their proportion of the total NPC membership is limited, so as not to dilute the club’s mission of service to the news media.
Some members qualify because they are nominated as particularly prized sources for reporters.
Additional membership categories cover students, spouses and non-​residents. There may be a membership category for retired persons… go check at
.
«There are no office or corporate memberships [in the EFL], and memberships cannot be transferred,» according to library rules.
In addition to print and online services, the library research staff’s focus on journalism issues has created a deep expertise on evolving news media technologies such as Web 2.0 tools.
As part of its mission to support the work of NPC members and other media workers, the library offers journalism-​related training classes.
The classes include hands-​on training in tools such as blogging, podcasts, really simple syndication and the like.
NPC members receive discounts on the class fees. But the fees for members of the general public are modest, typically $ 15 for an hour-​long class.
For NPC and library members, most «research services are completely free, including commercial databases such as NexisLexis. Each member can order four such searches per month (with up to five articles returned per search),» according to the library’s Web site.
Library membership does not afford access to press club facilities that are reserved for member use only.
Note that members of the general public can use the club’s Fourth Estate restaurant without joining either the library or the NPC.
Many of the club’s other events, such as press conferences, are accessible either by bona fide journalists who aren’t NPC members or by the general public as well, on a case-​by-​case basis.
Check the calendar at
, the club’s Web site, for upcoming news events as well as access to additional information about the library.