ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


November 1991 / 649

PRESERVATION
NEWS

P r e p a r e d  b y  B a r b a r a  B r o w n

College Libraries Committee 
Commission on Preservation and Access

•  Amherst, Massachusetts. The Amherst 
College Archives has received two federal Morrow 
Papers. The National Endowment for the Humani­
ties Division of Preservation and Access and the 
U.S. D epartm ent of Education Higher Education 
Act, Title II-C Program have joined forces in pro­
viding $105,000 to support this 18-month project. 
Anne Ostendarp has been named project archivist; 
preservation officer Daria D ’Arienzo will be project 
director. Diplomat, financier, and lawyer Dwight 
W. Morrow (1873-1931) corresponded with busi­
ness, political, and international leaders such as 
Reuben Clark, Calvin Coolidge, T. Coleman duPont, 
and Sir Arthur Salter. The 120 linear feet collection 
was donated by Mrs. Morrow in 1954. For addi­
tional information on the project contact: Anne 
Ostendarp, College Archives, Robert Frost Library, 
Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002; (413) 542- 
2299.

•  Albany, N ew  York. The first environmen­
tal control publication developed specifically for 
libraries, archives, and other organizations is called 
Conservation Environment Guidelines f o r  Librar­
ies and Archives‚ and has been published by New 
York State Library’s Conservation/Preservation Pro­
gram. The 88-page resource packet discusses the 
conservation environment, collections environment 
assessment and monitoring, and compromises for 
conservation environment goals. It also addresses 
building environments and systems that can create 
a good conservation environment. The packet is 
available for $10.00 from: Tiffany H. Allen, The 
New York State Library, 10-C-47 Cultural Educa­
tion Center, Albany, NY 12230. Checks should be

made payable to: The University of the State of 
New York.

•  W ashington, D.C. A new eight-panel pho­
tographic exhibit that draws attention to the preser­
vation and access of information in brittle books is 
available for short-term loan to universities and 
colleges, libraries, archives, scholarly societies, and 
other organizations from the Commission on Pres­
ervation and Access. The 10-by-7-foot modular 
display is built around a large full-color photograph 
of a brittle book with crumbling paper. The display 
includes velcro end panels for mounting informa­
tion and photographs specific to an institution’s own 
preservation program. Panels can be rearranged to 
serve as a complete backdrop for a conference 
booth or for a tabletop display. The exhibit is 
lightweight, portable, and easy to assemble. Institu­
tions can borrow the display free of charge but must 
pay shipping charges. For more information con­
tact: Trish Cece, Commission on Preservation and 
Access at (202) 483-7474.

•  Chicago, Illinois. A new Preservation Train­
ing Program being launched by the Society of 
American Archivists (SAA) intends to create a criti­
cal mass of institutional preservation programs 
managed by competent archival administrators, 
and to do so as rapidly and efficiently as possible. 
The program was recently awarded a $645,554 
grant by the National Endowment for the Humani­
ties. SAA plans to train 60 archivists over a three- 
year period, examining preservation topics from a 
management point of view. More information is 
available from SAA, 600 S. Federal, Suite 504, 
Chicago, IL 60605. ■  ■



650 / C&RL News

R ecruitm ent and m entoring program s for African- 
Americans developed in California

T he C alifornia L ibrarians Black C aucus of 
G reater Los Angeles (CLBC) and the Graduate 
School of Libraiy and Inform ation Science (GSLIS) 
at the University o f California Los Angeles (UCLA) 
have joined forces to develop a recruitm ent and 
m entoring program  for African-Americans.

“W e in the library community are concerned 
about the shortage of African-American librarians 
and we are developing aggressive programs to reach 
out to talented African- 
American students and 
bring them  into the pro­
fe s s io n ,” e x p la in e d  
Beverly Lynch, dean of 
UCLA’s GSLIS.

T h e  C L B C /U C L A  
M entor Program ’s goals 
are threefold: 1) to in­
crease awareness of ca­
reer options in the field 
of library and informa­
tion science, 2) to en­
courage African-Ameri- 
cans to attain the MLS Brainstorming at UCLA
degree at the GSLIS; and Univ., Northridge; Jo
3) to utilize practicing in­ Public Library; Eri
formation professionals facilitator; and Sand
in recruiting, retaining, Public 
and m entoring prospec­
tive and enrolled African-American students. The 
program  is supported in p a rt by a $27,000 Library 
Services Construction Act grant award from the 
California State Library.

During the past year a series o f workshops were 
h e ld  to  im p le m e n t t h e  M e n to r P ro g r a m ’s 
goals.There w ere two workshops involving pro­
spective mentors; the first introduced the program 
and the GSLIS to CLBC m em bers and the second 
involved the actual training of m entors. A m entoring 
handbook, p re p are d  by Eric Brasley, the project’s 
consultant from KPMG Peat Marwick Manage­
m ent Consultants, was used and may serve as a 
model to o ther organizations interested in develop­
ing similar m entoring programs. C ontact the stu­
dent services assistant at UCLA at (213) 825-5269 
for m ore information about the handbook.

Two other meetings targeting library leaders and 
o ther professionals w ere held to  generate support 
for the program  and aggressive recruitm ent activi­
ties. Library directors of public and academic li­
braries in Southern California m et at UCLA to 
discuss stra te g ies for re c ru itin g  p e o p le  from

un d e rre p re se n te d  groups, particularly African- 
Americans, into the information fìeld.The 25 li­
brary managers who a ttended spent an afternoon 
brainstorm ing ways to improve the general image of 
the profession and to  identify viable strategies for 
recruiting stellar individuals into the profession. In 
a second meeting, career counseling directors from 
m ajor universities in the Southern California area 
were invited to UCLA. This information session 

review ed c a re e r op ­
tions in library and in­
formation science as it 
is shaped in the ‘90s, 
and explored ways in 
which they could forge 
p a r tn e r s h ip s  w ith  
GSLIS and CLBC to 
achieve the program ’s 
goals. The GSLIS is fol­
lowing up  on initial 
contacts m ade at both 
meetings with visits to 
their campuses and li­

: Clark Wong, Cal State brary systems during 
yce Sumbi, L A  County 1991-92.
c Brasley, discussion T o c o m p le te  th e  
ra Reuben, L A  County program  implementa- 
Library. tionphase, a reception 

was held for prospec­
tive proteges to inform them  of program  benefits 
and to give them  to opportunity to m eet GSLIS staff 
and CLBC members.

E ric Brasley stressed that he wants African- 
Americans to be aware that the field of librarianship 
is m uch broader than traditionally thought. “The 
multicultural aspect o f today’s librarianship should 
make the field a great deal m ore attractive to 
African-Americans than it has been in the past,” 
Brasley said. "Ethnic communities are going to be 
relying m ore and m ore on libraries and databanks 
for information, and they are going to n eed skilled 
librarians who understand th eir concerns to assist 
them  in accessing that information. T he goal o f the 
M entoring Program  is to  make sure those librarians 
are th ere  for them .”

CLBC and GSLIS share responsibility for ad­
ministering, promoting, and monitoring the pro­
gram. The program ’s success will b e m easured by 
how effective it is in increasing the num ber of 
African-Americans who com plete the graduate li­
brary program  in the near future. To date, the 
program has 13 m entor/protege pairs. 1 1


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