The Foreign Service Journal, September 2008

76 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / S E P T EMB E R 2 0 0 8 U nder Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns and AFSA President John Naland have co- sponsored the creationof a ForeignAffairs Professional Reading List to serve as a resource for Foreign Service and Civil Service employees of the foreign affairs agencies. The initiative was launched on June 17 along with an accompanying ini- tiative to encourage employees to form Professional Development Discussion Groups. AFSA, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, and the State Department’s Ralph J. Bunche Library, Office of the Historian and Office of E- Diplomacy all collaborated to compile the list,with input fromregional and functional bureaus. The list seeks to identify useful books andWeb sites to serve as a point of departure for career-long, self-directedpro- fessional development. To further assist busy employees, the list designates a small core group of “highly recommended” books that are must-reads for any well- rounded foreign affairs professional. The list is posted on AFSA’s Web site at www.afsa.org/readinglist.cfm and on the StateDepartment’s intranet at http://diplo pedia.state.gov/index.php?title=Foreign_Aff airs_Professional_Reading_List. The list was visited online over 9,000 times during the first month after it was posted. The list is a livedocument, andemploy- ees and retirees are encouraged to nomi- nate additional titles. Please visit theWeb sites fornominationguidelines. Suggestions for books to add and comments about the books listed can be e-mailed to book club@afsa.org. Support for Creation of Book Discussion Groups AFSA invites supervisorswithmentor- ship responsibilities or ad hoc groups of employees at overseas posts and domestic offices to formProfessional Development Discussion Groups (“book clubs”) for employees to discuss books from the list. AFSA suggests that each group select one or more titles and thenmeet once a quar- ter to discuss what they have read. Supervisors are encouraged to participate in the discussions, but may wish to allow entry-level employees to coordinate the groups. To help launch this effort, the Una Chapman Cox Foundation generously granted $5,000 to AFSA for a pilot project inwhichAFSAwill provide funding toassist employees at approximately 45 Foreign Service posts in purchasing books to start a professional reading library to be main- tainedpermanently at post. Fundswill also be provided to the Ralph J. Bunche Library to facilitate the purchase of books for use by Washington-based discussion groups. Because the initial funding is limited, AFSA is accepting applications on a first- come, first-servedbasis, anticipating assis- tance to 45 Foreign Service posts and the State Department’s Ralph J. Bunche Library in purchasing books for a perma- nent lending library. As of July 18, AFSA had already distributed $1,900 to assist 15 ForeignService posts and the State library. Here’s how itworks: If anoverseas post wishes to create a professional reading library to be maintained permanently as post property (for example, by the DCM orCLO) for use by current and future col- leagues, thenAFSAwill provide a gift card of up to $100 per post usable at an online bookseller onaone-for-onematchingbasis for funds raisedby allocations fromappro- priated post funds or other authorized sources. Thus, if apost expends $100 from appropriated funds or other authorized sources, funds fromAFSAwill addamatch- ing $100 in the form of a gift card. The one requirement is that the AFSA gift cardmust be spent on the titles singled out as “highly recommended.” Thus, if a post decides toorder $200worthof books with half of that amount funded through this initiative, $100 worth would need to be from the “highly recommended” list. The remainder could be other titles that post’s book club members wanted, but those would need to be funded by appro- priated funds or other authorized sources and would need to be purchased through a normal procurement mechanism. To apply for an AFSA gift card, a post should first forma book club and then fill out AFSA’s online funding application at www.afsa.org/bookclub.cfm. Funding is not guaranteeduntil confirmedby reply e- mail from AFSA. Once AFSA confirms receipt, it should take about 30days for the post to receive the gift card. Only official book clubs may apply for the matching funds. Adhoc employeebookclubs are still encouraged, but are not eligible for the matching funds. Please e-mail any ques- tions to bookclub@afsa.org . Funding isnot available fordomestically organized book clubs. Instead, AFSAwill provide approximately $500 to the State Department tobegiven to thedepartment’s RalphJ. BuncheLibrary to facilitate thepur- chase of books for use by Washington- baseddiscussiongroups. Book clubs form- ed at bureaus and other large domestic offices should contact the Bunche Library to borrow titles from the Foreign Affairs Professional Reading List. Categories of books include: diplomacy theoryandpractice:U.S. foreignpolicyand international relations; public diplomacy; U.S. diplomatic andconsularhistory; glob- al issues; economics, trade and commerce; science, technology and industry; and diplomatic biographies andmemoirs. o A F S A N E W S AFSA-STATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONAL READING LIST Start a (Funded) Book Club at Your Post To further assist busy employees, the list designates “highly recommended” books that are must-reads for any well-rounded foreign affairs professional.