Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library

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The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library (STRI Library), also known as the Earl Silas Tupper Library in Tropical Biology, is one of the 20 libraries of the division Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL). The Branch is located in at Portobello Avenue, Ancón, Panama City, Republic of Panama. The Branch has sublocations on the Island of Barro Colorado, on the Gatun Lake of the Panama Canal, and on Colón Island, at the research station in the province of Bocas del Toro. The Library supports research, publications, exhibits and public programming of the Institute, and museums and bureaus of the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1923, the Institute for Research in Tropical America, a group that included private foundations, universities and the Smithsonian Institution, established a research laboratory on Barro Colorado Island, and became one of the first biological reserves in the New World. It was managed by the National Research Council, and its purpose was to investigate the flora and fauna of tropical America. In 1949, the facility was renamed the Canal Zone Biological Area and, by Act of Congress on July 2 of that year, was placed under the control of a board composed of the heads of several executive departments and prominent scientists. In 1946, the reorganization plan approved by Congress transferred operations to the Smithsonian Institution.

The Canal Zone Biological Area was incorporated into the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in 1966 to provide continuity to the research program conducted at BCI and to establish a center where students from all over the world could conduct tropical research under conditions similar to those of an academic institution. More information on STRI can be found in its website at www.stri.org