The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. In 1972 it was designated as one of the Research Libraries of The New York Public Library and became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Today, the Schomburg Center contains over 5,00,000 items and provides services and programs for constituents from the United States and abroad. The Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc (OWWA) is an international organization founded in1991. OWWA is a non- profit and non-governmental organization associated with the United Nations Department of Public information. OWWA was formed for the purpose of establishing links between professional women writers from Africa and its Diaspora, and addressing issues concerning translation, publishing, distribution, censorship, new technology, cultural policy, domination, democracy, and human progress. The African Diaspora Slave Routes Organizing Committee was formed in 1998 for the purpose of encouraging continued study of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its consequences. This committee was an organizer of "Slave Routes: The Long Memory" international symposium held at NYU in 1999.