Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies

The Audine Wilkinson Library

In 1964 The University of the West Indies’ research library was opened and known as the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) Library.  In 1998, the Institute was renamed the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) and the library was then known as the SALISES Library. In 2005, the library was renamed after Ms. Audine C. Wilkinson. Ms. Audine Wilkinson was the Administrative Assistant in charge in the ISER Library from its inception in 1964.  She was solely responsible for developing the library from just a few books and papers to a well-stocked facility.  She went beyond her duties as an Administrative Assistant to be a prolific compiler of several bibliographies.  These publications have been consulted by researchers visiting the library.  In addition, Ms. Wilkinson published several bibliographies and has collected and collated the published and unpublished articles of Sir Arthur Lewis.

In 2003, the Audine Wilkinson Library was headed by Ms. Beverley Hinds (MLIS, Pratt; MA, UWI) until 2019. Subsequently, Ms. Hinds was succeeded by Mr. Kenneth Chase as Librarian.

As in other research organisations, the Library forms a very important and integral part of the Institute. Present holdings consist of documentary material; texts on research methods and techniques; professional journals and press clippings. In addition, statistical series and periodic releases of data and reports from a number of non-official and non-academic institutions such as banks, public corporations and statutory bodies, constitute an important part of the collection.

The Library has acquired a selection of publications, particularly journals from other developing countries which are, either less extensively covered by other libraries on the island or are less easily accessible to the wider population concerned with development. As a result, specialist institutions in the region and individual researchers, both local and foreign, are finding the collection increasingly useful.