UCLA University Librarian

The final Library Associates Author Reading for the academic year was held last night to a standing room only crowd at the Young Research Library. UCLA Professor Emeritus Gary Nash

Gary Nash joins University Librarian Gary Strong at the Library Associates Author Reading closing the series for the academic year.

Gary Nash, UCLA History Professor Emeritus and Director of the National Center for History in Schools, discussed “A Tragic Betrayal in the New Nation,” based on his recent book Friends of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson, Tadeusz Kósciuszko, and Agrippa Hull: A Tale of Three Patriots, Two Revolutions, and a Tragic Betrayal of Freedom in the New Nation.

Gary has a varying array of books to his credit including The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America, The Forgotten Fifth: African Americans in the Age of Revolution, First City: Philadelphia and the Forging of Historical Memory and Forbidden Love: The Secret History of Mixed Race America.

Gary received his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from PrincetonUniversity. He is an elected member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Society of American Historians, and the American Antiquarian Society. He has been a professor in the UCLA Department of History since 1966. Gary and his wife, Cindy, are also endowment donors to the UCLA Library. His talk and reading were followed by a brisk question and answer period.

Anyone walking by the East exhibit case in the Research Library would wonder when the spring plantings will start to sprout.

But it is actually an exhibit in preparation. Objects from the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs will be on view in the case beginning on May 12. To prepare for the exhibit, which will feature many items made from minimally processed plant materials, the environment in the case is being buffered to a higher-than-ambient relative humidity using a synthetic substance known as silica gel. This will produce an evironment similar to one found in many museum collections.

Exhibit items will include those treated by students from the UCLA/Getty Master’s Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation during Winter 2007 and 2009 as well as several additional items borrowed from the museum.

A new author’s series — Detective Fiction and the Central American Experience — held its first session yesterday opening to a standing room only crowd in the Research Library’s conference center. Conceieved by Gloria Chacon, one of the Library’s Post Doctoral Fellows, the series is intented to be a multi-layer provocation. First it is meant to point to the detective work one carries out when dealing with the Central American experience. Second, the series is intended to be a conversation with an entire body of texts that surfaced in the 1990s where American citizens travel to Central America to “solve” a particular crime, usually a disappearance or murder. Third, the series is an attempt to bring into the Academy the emergence of what Arturo Arias has termed “the invisibility of Central Americans in the United States.”

The Tattooed Soldier was discussed by its author Hector Tobar. He is also author of Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identify in the Spanish-Speaking United States. He has been a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times in Mexico and Central America and is currently contirbuting a weekly column to the Times. He also discussed his current project to be released soon.

Hector Tobar (with Gary Strong and Gloria Chacon) was the inaugural speaker in the series. He was introduced by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Chicano Studies professor, poet, and novelist.

The next guest writer will be Marcos M. Villatoro, Professor and novelist at Mount Saint Mary’s. His books include Home Killings, Walking to La Milpa, and The Holy Spirit of my Uncle’s Cojones.

What fun it always is to attend the Festival. The whole campus is transformed with booths, authors, readers, and programs. My first stop was at the merchandise tent to get this year’s hat and mug. Then to the UCLA Library booth to say hello and see what is out. Those tatoos are such fun. Library staff were on hand to talk about consumer health and government information with those who stopped by.

My first panel was of mystery writers and I really enjoyed their interaction. Stephen J. Cannell and Jan Burke are two favorites of mine. Other panels took place over Saturday and Sunday.

In the afternoon Ray Bradbury visited Powell Library to see the commemorative plaque of the site of the creation of Farhenheit 451.

During Ray Bradbury’s appearance at the Powell Society Dinner in September 2008, this was unveiled, but he only was able to see it on Saturday for the first time.

Over one hundred and twenty-five of the Library’s donors gathered in the lobby of the Research Library for our annual donors reception. Four years ago a small group gathered at the first such event, but this year drew the largest number of donors ever–and the number who support the UCLA Library continues to grow. Honored are those who make monetary contributions during the year, support endowments, and donate collections of significant value to the Library’s special collections. During the evening, highlights from across the various Library collections were available for examination by those attending. It is truly a highlight of the year.

Ann and Bill Edwards join Carolyn and me. The Edward’s gift enabled the purchase of the Huxley papers. They are members of the Library’s Board of Visitors.

Robin and Al Carnesale joined the reception and offered warm wishes to all. Our former Chancellor has been an avid supporter of the Library and building its collections.

Elliot Gould recently selected the Library to be the repository for his papers.

Endowments provide a lasting legacy and are significant in sustaining the development of the Library’s vast collections. Jacqueline Weber recently added to the Jacqueline and Eugen Weber Endowed Fund for European History.

For additional information on how to support the UCLA Library see http://www.library.ucla.edu/development

Johanna Drucker, GSEIS Bernard and Martin Breslauer Professor of Bibliography delivered the inaugural lecture last Thursday. I had an opportunity to attend this stimulating and interesting lecture. The lecture entitled, “Biblio+Info: How can the legacy of book culture and the emerging scene of information enviornments best engage in a mutually informing dialogue?” captivated from the outset.

Drucker presented ideas about the book as an information device designed for use was brought to bear on considerations of the design of digital environments. In turn, reflections on what a book is and does were brought into focus through the insights gained in thinking about the demands of digital tools and electronic spaces. The larger question guiding this talk was research into the book as a space of diagrammatic interpretation based on a cognitive studies approach to knowledge production.

The lecture was followed by a lively question and answer period which previewed the exciting exchanges yet to come.

Tuesday evening, the Library welcomed Eric Lax as the first Library Associates author. Mr. Lax discussed his latest book, Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking.

Mr. Lax has done a varying array of books to his credit including Life and Death on 10 West, which is his account of the UCLA bone marrow transplantation unit. This work received acknowledgement by The New York Times Book Review as one of the Notable Books of the Year and also received recognition from the Leukemia Society of America.

As an author who has throughly researched his books, Eric has spnt a lot of time in libraries, including the UCLA Library. He lives in Beverly Hills and is a member of the California Institute of the Arts Board of Visitors. He is also a Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow and recived a degree in English form Hobart College.

He offered us a brief glimpse into a renowned filmaker’s art and his craft. Converstions with Woody Allen comprises thirty-six years of interviews that began in 1971. He graciously answered questions about Allen, but also commented on his other books and path as a biographer.

Gary Strong with Eric Lax

June Wayne delivered the Cashin Lecture in the Department of Special Collections last night to a standing room only crowd. She spoke of her long career (she is now 90) as an artist and particularly her work from John Donne Songes and Sonets published 50 years ago with her lithographs. We were all with her as she told us of her trip from Paris to Berlin carrying the litographs in a suitcase to join with the printer to complete the text for the ground-breaking artist’s book.

She was joined by Helen B. Brook, Stanford University, Paul A. Parrish, Texas A & M University and Jonathan Post, UCLA. Each related her art to the poems they had selected from Donne. Cudos to Vicki Steele and her staff for presenting such a wonderful event.

June Wayne with Gary Strong

ast Thursday night I hosted our third annual Powell Society Dinner at the Powell Library. The dinner celebrates the generosity of Library Associates who are members of the Powell Society. The Society includes those who contribute at least $1,000 each year to the UCLA Library or have designated endowment funds. Seventy-eight individuals came together to celebrate the UCLA Library.This event gives me the opportunity to personally thank our major donors and to cultivate their continued interest in our programs. Our donors have an opportunity to socialize with us in the rotunda of Powell and then adjourned for dinner in the adjoining room. It is such a great place to entertain our donors.

Our special guest this year was author Ray Bradbury. Now 88 he spoke passionately about books and libraries. A special part of the evening was the unveiling of a plaque noting the fact that he used the typewriter room at the Powell Library to type his first book Fahrenheit 451. He recalled going to the Bank of America and getting a bag of dimes and