THE largest and most successful humanist organisation in the USA is the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH). They are embarking on a major development to their work by building a Center of Inquiry. Expansion has already taken place and the next wing is as yet a hole in the ground. A pre-inaugural meeting took place, when visitors from the IHEU Board Meeting and Humanist Congress in Toronto visited the site.

There will be space to accommodate all the CODESH organisations -- The Institute for Inquiry, The Academy of Humanism, the Secular Organisation for Sobriety, the African-Americans for Humanism and the Robert Green Ingersoll Memorial Committee. CODESH's influential magazine Free Inquiry is read all round the world.

In the final phase there will be a Center for lnquiry Library -- to be the largest humanist library in the world, with electronic cataloguing to assist researchers worldwide. There will be two seminar rooms and space for radio and video production. The building will be shared with the kindred organisation the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal (CSICOP). The building adjoins the State University of New York, which will enable Valuable interaction.

The project is being funded by money raised from supporters. $3.3 million dollars have already been raised - an astonishing feat for a humanist organisation.

At the pre-inaugural event, Rob Tielman, a Co-President of IHEU, congratulated CODESH on its efforts. He said that it was essential to develop the professionalism of humanist organisations, and also to stay abreast of new developments in electronic communication.