The theme for this week's Global Express is :

Main Entry: li·brary
Pronunciation: 'lI-"brer-E, -"bre-rE; Britain usually and US sometimes -br&r-E; US sometimes -brE, ÷-"ber-E, -"be-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -brar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French librarie, Medieval Latin librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of books, from libr-, liber inner bark, rind, book
1 a : a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale b : a collection of such materials
2 a : a collection resembling or suggesting a library <a library of computer programs> <wine library> b : MORGUE 2
3 a : a series of related books issued by a publisher b : a collection of publications on the same subject
4 : a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that usually represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue
usage While the pronunciation \'lI-"brer-E\ is the most frequent variant in the U.S., the other variants are not uncommon. The contraction \'lI-brE\ and the dissimilated form \'lI-"ber-E\ result from the relative difficulty of repeating \r\ in the same syllable or successive syllables; our files contain citations for these variants from educated speakers, including college presidents and professors, as well as with somewhat greater frequency from less educated speakers.