  High-resolution CTIO 4-m/HYDRA spectroscopy of the super-metal-rich open
cluster NGC 6253 ([Fe/H]=+0.43+/-0.01) has been used to study the stellar
lithium (Li) abundances near the cluster's turnoff. NGC 6253 greatly expands
the range of [Fe/H] for clusters that have a Li abundance analysis. This is
important for studying the complicated effects of, and potential correlations
with, stellar Fe abundance on surface Li abundance. Comparisons to the younger
and less-metal-rich Hyades and to the similarly-aged but solar-metallicity M67
show that NGC 6253's Li abundances are qualitatively consistent with the
prediction, from Standard Stellar Evolution Theory, that higher-metallicity
stars have a greater Li depletion. Comparison with M67 provides evidence that
the more-metal-rich NGC 6253 had a higher initial Li, which is consistent with
expectations from models of Galactic Li production. NGC 6253 is also compared
to the intermediate-aged NGC 3680, NGC 752, and IC 4651 open clusters.
Comparison of the Li-gap positions in all six clusters shows: a) the gap's
position in Teff is independent of metallicity, but b) higher-metallicity
clusters have their gaps in higher-mass stars. In addition, the Li gap's
position is shown not to evolve with age, which provides an important
constraint for the non-standard depletion mechanisms that may create the Li
gap.
