FYI from Ray Anne Lockard


Bibliographer and Public Services Librarian
Frick Fine Arts Library
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA  15260
Voice-mail:  412-648-5972
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

"A book should be a ball of light in one's hands."  Ezra Pound

 


-----Original Message-----
From: Consortium of Art and Architectural Historians [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Schlitt, Melinda
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 7:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: depredations to art history teaching and research at UCLA

I am happy to support your cause here, the circumstances of which seem quite odd and outrageous.  One question: it is unusual, is it not, for a librarian to have control over a University resource that serves several departments.  In my experience at Colleges and Univerisities, the Library is supervised by a collective committee as well as by direct oversight under the Academic Dean and/or committee on academic programming.  Does this Mr. Strong have the unilateral ability to close an all-University resource at his discretion?  Should letters also be sent to the Dean and/or another entity?  (Who does he answer to in the administration?) I have used the UCLA library over the years, and it is an outstanding resource.

If the University is looking to cut costs, this is not the route to take --

Sympathetically,

Melinda Schlitt
Prof. Art History
Dept. of Art & Art History
Dickinson College
________________________________________
From: Consortium of Art and Architectural Historians [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Upton, Dell [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 10:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: depredations to art history teaching and research at UCLA

Over the summer, the University Librarian at UCLA, Gary Strong, made a secret and unilateral decision to close the university's Arts Library, which serves art history, architecture, studio arts, theater arts, and a variety of other departments.  His response to inquiries about this decision have been dismissive and condescending.

Appended below is the letter that concerned faculty sent to Mr. Strong.   Any expressions of support to him and to our Chancellor would be welcome.

In addition, there is a Facebook page (!) "Save the UCLA Arts Library" that you can consult for more information.

Dell Upton
[log in to unmask]

August 19, 2009

Gary Strong

University Librarian

University of California, Los Angeles

Dear Mr. Strong:

This letter is intended to express our outrage and dismay at the impending closure of the Arts Library, an entity that is unique on the West Coast in its offerings and resources. As instructors-at UCLA and beyond-in the arts, architecture, art history, film, television, theater and the humanities we all see the UCLA Arts Library as an indispensable resource to fulfill our pedagogical mission. As creators and researchers we all see the UCLA Arts Library as a critical part of our respective practices. Furthermore, a dedicated arts collection is a staple of all great universities public and private. On all of these levels it is unconscionable that this library, one that services the myriad needs of hundreds of faculty and thousands of students in some of our nation's best departments in the arts and humanities could even be considered for closure.

Those who did not see the closure of the Arts Library buried in your blog entry of August 4, 2009 found out about it though word of mouth, Facebook, email and water cooler rumors. The lack of any effort on the part of library management to consult arts and humanities faculty about these plans points to a lack of transparency in the library's operations that we find most troubling. This lack of transparency is further underscored by library management's failure to consult with the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication on this critical issue.

If the Arts Library closes, it is impossible to see how YRL and SRLF, facilities that are already bursting at the seams, can accommodate an additional 180,000+ objects. Given that in YRL's renovations accommodations are being made for meeting spaces-including a café "with seating area and service counter"-it is even more difficult to imagine how the Arts Library's collections can possibly be brought into this building. We are deeply concerned that once the Arts Library closes its doors that its collections-some of which are singular to this library-will be dispersed and rendered inaccessible. We are equally concerned that the library's excellent staff will disappear with its collections.

We understand the seriousness of the budget situation; we understand that over 85% of the library's operating budget comes from 19900 funds; we understand that library management, like the rest of the university, has had to make enormously difficult and painful decisions regarding reductions. We do not understand library management's failure to apprise the Senate Library Committee-on which you sit-of its plans before a decision was reached; we do not understand library management's failure to consult arts and humanities faculty as a means of discussing the repercussions of this closure or to come up with more tenable solutions to this crisis; we do not understand library management's failure to communicate its decision (or the process in its making) directly to the UCLA community. Such secrecy and opacity gives the impression that the Arts Library closure was to be presented at the beginning of the school year as a fait accompli. This is simply not acceptable.

We protest the closure of the Arts Library. We demand that you hold an open meeting on this serious issue for interested faculty and students at the beginning of fall quarter. At the end of the day, we are deeply invested in the Arts Library, and we look forward to coming up with a solution that will keep this vital institution in operation.

Sincerely,

Steven D. Nelson, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Chair, UCLA Graduate Council

Eyal Amiran, Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, UC Irvine

Andrew Apter, Professor, Departments of History and Anthropology, Director, James S. Coleman                            African Studies Center

George Baker, Associate Professor, Department of Art History

Janet Bergstrom, Professor, Cinema and Media Studies, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media

Charlene Villaseñor Black, Associate Professor, Department of Art History

Peter J. Bloom, Associate Professor, Department of Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara

Jennifer Bolande, Professor, Area Head, New Genres, Department of Art

Robert L. Brown, Professor, Department of Art History

Julia Bryan-Wilson, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, UC Irvine

Emily Carmen, Visiting Professor, Antioch University and Otis College of Art and Design

Dee Caruso, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media

Sandra Caruso, Adjunct Associate Professor, Theater Department

Sue-Ellen Case, Professor and Chair, Ph.D. Program in Theater and Performance Studies,

                Theater Department

Kathlyn M. Cooney, Assistant Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Dana Cuff, Director cityLAB, Professor, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

Susan Downey, Professor, Department of Art History

Lauri Firstenberg, Visiting Faculty, Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California,                              Founder, Director and Curator, LA><ART

Susan Leigh Foster, Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures

Andrea Fraser, Professor, Department of Art

Gyula Gazdag, Professor, Production/Directing Program, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media

David Gere, Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures and Director, Art | Global Health Center                   at UCLA

Sharon E. J. Gerstel, Professor, Department of Art History

Jonathan M. Hall, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, Pomona College

Lyn Hejinian, Professor, Department of English, UC Berkeley

Roger Herman, Professor, Department of Art

Karin Higa, Senior Curator of Art, Japanese American National Museum

Thomas S. Hines, Professor Emeritus, Departments of History and Architecture and Urban Design

Jennifer Holt, Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara

Neil Peter Jampolis, Distinguished Professor, Theater Department

Burglind Jungmann, Professor, Department of Art History

Shannon Kelley, Head of Public Programs, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Mary Kelly, Professor of Art and Critical Theory, Department of Art

Cecelia F. Klein, Professor, Department of Art History

Barbara Kruger, Professor, Department of Art

Miwon Kwon, Professor, Department of Art History

Juliet Koss, Associate Professor, Art History Department, Scripps College

Ross Lipman, Film Restorationist, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Willem Henri Lucas, Professor and Chair, UCLA Design | Media Arts

Steve Mamber, Professor, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media

Denise Mann, Head, UCLA Producers Program, Associate Professor, Department of Film, TV and                      Digital Media

Lyle Massey, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, UC Irvine

Rebeca Mendez, Professor, UCLA Design | Media Arts

Saloni Mathur, Associate Professor, Department of Art History

Donald McCallum, Professor, Department of Art History

Sarah P. Morris, Steinmetz Professor of Classical Archaeology and Material Culture,

                Department of Classics and Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Aamir Mufti, Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Literature

Chon Noriega, Professor, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media, Director, UCLA Chicano

                Studies Research Center

Janet O'Shea, Associate Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures

Frances Pohl, Professor, Department of Art History, Pomona College (UCLA, Ph.D. 1985)

Lionel Popkin, Assistant Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures

Rebecca Prime, Critical Studies, Department of Film, TV, and Digital Media

Alex Purves, Assistant Professor, Classics

Nancy Richardson, Professor, Department of Film, TV and Digital Media

Allen F. Roberts, Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures

Mary Nooter Roberts, Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures

Jean-Louis Rodrigue, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Theater Department

Michele Schreiber, Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, Emory University

Jenny Sharpe, Professor, Department of English

Lytle Shaw, Assistant Professor, Department of English, New York University

Eric Smoodin, Professor, Program in Film Studies, UC Davis (UCLA, Ph.D. 1984)

Andrew Stewart, Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek Studies, Departments of History of Art and                        Classics, UC Berkeley

Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei, Professor, Theater Department

Nancy J. Troy, Professor, Department of Art History, University of Southern California

Dell Upton, Professor and Chair, Department of Art History

Victoria Vesna, Professor, UCLA Design | Media Arts

Edit Villarreal, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Chair, MFA Playwriting Program

James Welling, Professor, Department of Art

Joanna Woods-Marsden, Professor, Department of Art History



cc: Chancellor Gene Block

Executive Vice-Chancellor Scott Waugh

Vice-Chancellor Claudia Mitchell-Kernan

Dean Teri Schwartz

Dean Tim Stowell

Dean Chris Waterman

Professor Shane Butler, Chair, Academic Senate Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication

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