FAQ

Due to space constraints, the Library can no longer accept book donations.

Where can I find out what my German books are worth?

The staff of the Library is not trained in assessing the value of antiquarian German books. Please visit the following website, which also lists contacts to German antiquarian book dealers, to ascertain if you are in possession of a valuable volume: Central Registry of Antiquarian Books

Die Bücherstube 
P.O. Box 700 
Pelion, SC 29123 
Tel: +1 888 BUECHER (283-2437) 
info@buecherstube.com 
www.buecherstube.com

German Book Center 
1317 County Road 56 
Mountaindale, NY 12763 
Toll free: +1 845 4364110 
germanbook@msn.com

International Book Import Service 
PO Box 8188
161 Main Street 
Lynchburg, TN 37352 
Toll free: +1 800 2774247 
ibis@ibiservice.com 
www.ibiservice.com 

Schoenhof's Foreign Books 
76 A Mount Auburn Street 
Cambridge, MA 02138 
Tel: +1 617 5478855 
weborders@schoenhofs.com 
www.schoenhofs.com
 

Deutsche Kultur International
Deutsche Kultur International provides information for a wide range of scholarship, professional exchange and support opportunities, tailored towards students, scientists, artists as well as professionals.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
The German Academic Exchange Service is a publicly-funded, independent organization of higher education institutions in Germany. They provide information as well as financial support for international research and study to qualified students and faculty.

DAAD Scholarship Database
Here you can find information on various kinds of German Academic Exchange Service funding for foreign students, graduates and post-docs as well as on funding offered by other selected organizations.

German American Partnership Program (HS) 
The German American Partnership Program is an exchange program between the USA and Germany. Its objectives include the integration of students into everyday life of their host families and classroom activities of their host schools with a view to inspire international understanding, promoting German language instruction and motivating personal friendship.

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (HS) 
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program is jointly funded by the U.S. Congress and its German equivalent, the Bundestag. Congress-Bundestag students live with a host family and attend school in Germany for an academic year to gain views on German social, political and economic life.

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (UG) 
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals is a 12-month program scholarship program that is intended primarily for young adults in business, technical, vocational, and agricultural fields.

Junior Year in Munich (UG) 
Funding is available for college and university students already accepted into Wayne State University's Junior Year in Munich program at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

German Academic Exchange Service (UG, G)
Via a scholarship database, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) provides information about scholarships and funding opportunities regarding study and research in Germany.

German-American Fulbright Program (UG, G, P)
Defined characteristically as a program of student exchange, the German-American Fulbright Program is complemented by academic year programs for professors, teachers, teaching assistants, and journalists.

German Historical Institute (UG, G, P) 
Funded by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Washington, DC based German Historical Institute also seeks grants and accepts support for individual projects from other German sources. It provides a list of scholarships for German and American scholars.

American Academy in Berlin (UG, G, P) 
Comprising a variety of disciplines, the American Academy in Berlin supports younger as well as established scholars, artists, and professionals who wish to engage in independent study in Berlin for an academic semester or, in special cases, for an entire academic year.

Fritz Thyssen Foundation (G)
The sole purpose of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation is the direct support of research and scholarship in universities and research institutes, primarily in Germany, with special emphasis on the support of young scholars. 

German Research Foundation (G)
As the central and self-governing research organisation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Research Foundation (DFG) promotes the advancement of young researchers throughout all stages of their research career in all fields of science and the humanities.

Friedrich Naumann Foundation (G, P)
As a foundation for liberal policy, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation scholarship program is open to foreign students and postgraduates at German universities.

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (G, P)
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards a wide range of sponsorship programs for applicants from abroad, including fellowships for scientists and scholars, prospective leaders and musicians as well as sponsorship for collaboration.

Robert Bosch Foundation (P)
The Robert Bosch Foundation is one of the major German foundations associated with a private company. As the main object of its German-American promotion, the Robert Bosch Foundation fellowship program supports American management trainees.

Goethe-Institut Residencies

Akademie Schloss Solitude
The Akademie Schloss Solitude is a foundation under public law, subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg Lottery. Its task is to promote mainly younger, particularly gifted artists by means of residence fellowships.

Artists-in-Berlin Program
The German Academic Exchange Service’s Artists-in-Berlin program offers grants to artists in the fields of visual arts, literature, music and film.

Cultural Project of the Professional Association of Berlin Artists
The Cultural Project of the Professional Association of Berlin Artists offers organized sponsorship of artists that is intentionally distinguished from individual sponsorship.

Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste
Founded in 1957, the IGBK is a lobby organization representing visual artists' interests in Germany and abroad. The website hosts an International Artist Tool database of grants and residencies as well as an up-to-date list of international opportunities for artists.

The Young Academy
The scholarship programs of the Young Academy offer upcoming artists from all over the world an opportunity to develop further, to exchange information and experience, to present their work. Meetings by the scholarship holders with each other, contacts with members of the Academy of Arts, mentoring facilities, knowledge transfer, support for projects, and a wide variety of interaction with the public form the framework by which young artists can be given encouragement and support for a period of twelve months.

Allegheny College German Writer-in-Residence Program
The Modern and Classical Languages department receives an annual grant from the Max Kade Foundation to fund the German Writer-in-Residence Program.

Darthmouth College Max Kade Visiting Faculty
Through the generosity of the Max Kade Foundation, the Department regularly invites prominent representatives of German, Austrian, and Swiss academic or public life to teach an advanced seminar in the spring term.

Dickinson College Max Kade Center
Through the generous support of Max Kade and the College, German authors and scholars visit campus for short- and long-term visits. Visitors attend department courses, give lectures, hold public readings, and/or attend our weekly German Table.

New York Public Library Cullman Center Fellowships
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers offers fellowships to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the research collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The Selection Committee awards up to 15 fellowships a year to outstanding scholars and writers – academics, independent scholars, journalists, and creative writers. Foreign nationals conversant in English are welcome to apply.

NYU Deutsches Haus Writer-in-Residence Program
Every year, Deutsches Haus invites four authors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland for a ten week period to expose these authors to the challenges of this unique metropolis and bring them in contact with readers, critics and American authors who live permanently in New York or are also visitors.

Oberlin College Max Kade German Writer-in-Residence
The German department annually welcomes a Max Kade German Writer-in-Residence for the fall semester.

University of Iowa International Writing Program
The Residency is designed for established and emerging creative writers — poets, fiction writers, dramatists, and non-fiction writers. The minimum requirements are that they have published at least one book, and that they possess sufficient proficiency in English to profit from the Iowa experience.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Max Kade Institute
The Institute's mission is twofold: first, scholarly research and documentation; and second, outreach to a broader audience. Ongoing research involves faculty and students from many departments as well as visiting scholars examining how German-speaking immigrants and their descendants have both shaped their North American environment and been shaped by it.

Villa Aurora Artists in Residence
Each year, Villa Aurora awards a total of up to 12 fellowships, of three months each, to artists working in film, literature, composition and the arts. The artists reside at Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades at the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Washington University in St. Louis Max Kade Center
Every spring since 1985, The Max Kade Center has invited one prominent writer and one leading critic from a German-speaking country to teach a graduate course on contemporary German literature. The visitors are supported by a grant from the Max Kade Foundation in New York.

Writers OMI at Ledig House
Writers OMI at Ledig House has hosted hundreds of authors and translators, representing more than fifty countries. We welcome published writers and translators of every type of literature. International, cultural and creative exchange is a foundation of our mission, and a wide distribution of national background is an important part of our selection process.

Although the staff of the Goethe-Institut do not perform translations, they are happy to assist you in your translation endeavors. The Goethe-Institut New York Library offers a strong reference collection covering a diverse spectrum of subjects. Furthermore, the Library houses a number of specialty German-English/English-German dictionaries in fields such as art history, music, psychology, medicine, business, science, and technology.

What kind of financial assistance does the Goethe-Institut provide for the translation of books?

For more information including conditions and applications, please visit the Translation Grant Program page. 

What’s the difference between translating and interpreting?

A translator deals with the written word, whereas an interpreter deals with the spoken word.

There are a number of professional organizations whose accredited members specialize in translation. Each organization maintains member directories that can be of assistance in locating a translator in your area. Rates are not set by the professional organizations, but determined by individual translators based on experience and business climate.  

American Translators Association
The American Translators Association (ATA) is the umbrella organization for the translation and interpreting professions. The ATA has a certification program to verify that individual translators meet professional standards. The website offers a searchable Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services as well as a Directory of Language Services Companies.

German Language Division
The German Language Division (GLD) is one of the American Translators Association's divisions devoted to specific languages. The GLD provides information and services relating to translation and interpretation to and from German.

New York Circle of Translators   
The New York Circle of Translators (NYCT) is a chapter of the American Translators Association, whose members work in a variety of languages and specialties in industry, law, finance, commerce, the arts and academia. The NYCT Member Services Directory is searchable by language and by either individual or institutional memberships.

PEN American Center Directory of Translators 
The PEN American Center is the largest of the 141 centers of International PEN, the world's oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. They not only maintain listings of translators by language, but also make a free Handbook for Literary Translators available via their website.

American Literary Translators Association 
The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) was founded to provide essential services to literary translators from all languages and create a professional forum for the exchange of ideas on the art and craft of literary translation.

National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators 
The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the furtherance of the court interpreting and legal translation profession.