ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


104 /  C&RL News

Letters

(C & R L News welcomes y o u r  signed, ty p e d  com ­
m en t on recent co n ten t in  o u r  pages o r  on  m atters o f
general interest to th e academic o r  research library 
profession. L etters beyo n d  250 w ords w ill n o t be 
accepted o r m a y  be ed ited  to f i t  space. L etters should
be addressesd to: The Editor, C & R L News, 50  E. 
H uron St., Chicago, I L  60611;f a x  (312)280-7663.)

Food not only possible break for readers
To th e  Editor:

I have two objections to  H elen  L. G a ter’s opinion 
piece “F o o d  for th o u g h t” pub lish ed  in th e  D e ce m ­
b e r 91 C & R L  New s. She ignored th e  occupational 
h ealth  hazards associated w ith exposing library 
workers, a n d  library users, to re p e ated  application 
o f pesticides w hen she stated  “exterm inators can 
han d le verm in an d  th e y  n e ed  to  m ake a living.” 
M arketing libraries is im portant, b u t all th e  costs 
n e ed  to b e  co n sidered an d  pesticide exposure is too 
risky to  justify any m arketing gain, a t least in m id to 
large libraries. My second objection is m ore p e r ­
sonal. E atin g  and reading is pleasurable b u t n o t 
particularly healthful. G a ter argues th a t students 
“...need all th e  breaks th ey  can  g et.” H ow  ab out a 
walk aro u n d  th e  building, a  d rin k  o f w ater, m ed ita­
tion, a nap?— A n n  Viera, A griculture-Veterinary 
M edicine Library, University o f  Tennessee

Let ACRL’s Racial & Ethnic 
Diversity Committee know about 

your activities

A C R L’s Racial & E th n ic  D iversity C o m m it­
te e  w ants to  receive inform ation ab o u t library 
program s, workshops, etc., th a t have success­
fully dealt w ith th e  following issues: recru itm en t 
o f m inority librarians; cultural aw areness/sensi- 
tivity training; m ulticultural library school cu r­
riculum ; a n d  diversity. T h e c om m ittee is p lan ­
ning on evaluating/highlighting this inform ation 
du rin g  its program  a t th e  A C R L C onference. 
C ontact: Susana Hinojosa, M offitt U nd erg rad u ­
ate Library, U C  B erkeley, B erkeley, CA 94720; 
(510) 642-5071; e-m ail: shinojos@ berkeley. 
library.edu.

T h e  com m ittee’s Coalition o f A cadem ic Li­
brarians from  U n d e rre p re se n te d  G roups wants 
to h e ar from  you if you are w orking on racial and 
diversity issues w ithin ALA o r your library. 
C ontact: Gladys C haw  a t (415) 574-6579.

 

 

Kudos for Selth
T o  th e  Editor:

W ould th a t each o f  us w rote as w ell as Jeff Selth 
(“T h e  objects o f his devotion,” C & R L  New s, D e ­
c em b er 1991). O u r articles m ight b e  w idely a n ­
thologized in literatu re. T hough an an ath em a to 
librarians, figures like M r. C h esh ire should be 
o f  in te re st to  m ystery read ers outside o u r profes­
sion. Please en tice J. Selth to  con tin u e w riting on 
all aspects o f th e  book w orld for C & R L  N ews 
first.— M. J. Kreitzburg, Reference a n d  Head, Bib­
liographic Instruction, U niversity o f  Pittsburgh 
a t Johnstow n

Kudos and complaints on Dead Sea Scrolls 
coverage
To th e  Editor:

C ongratulations on  an excellent N ovem ber is­
sue! I p u lled  it o u t o f m y mailbox yesterday evening, 
w alked in  m y front door, sat down, a n d  read  it cover 
to  cover.

You deserve high praise for yo u r exceptionally 
clear statem e n t on th e  D e ad  Sea Scrolls and th e  
H u n tin g to n  Library’s decision to  o p en  u p  th e ir 
collection o f negatives.

All in all, th e  gradual changes you a re m aking—  
m ore u p b e at copy an d  th e  inclusion o f m ore p h o to ­
graphs, to  n am e only two— are greatly im proving 
th e  readability o f th e  journal.

K eep u p  th e  good work.— Patricia Bozeman, 
Head, Special Collections, U niversity o f  H ouston 

To th e  Editor:
To p e rm it a perso n  from  th e  University o f Texas, 

Ransom  C en ter, to  w rite an d  a tte m p t to  discuss the 
issue o f access a n d  restriction is th e  u ltim ate insult 
to  any serious scholar w ho has tried  to  achieve such 
access in Austin.

T h e  H .R .H .R .C . has a w orldw ide rep u tatio n  as 
th e  least accessible, least cooperative institution, 
th a t will stop a t no th in g  to  preserve w hat they 
perceive as th e ir m ost im p o rtan t function o f being 
a  to u rist attraction. T h e audacity o f  this institution 
an d  its em ployees seem s to have no bounds.

I am  enclosing p apers covering th e  p erio d  from  
O cto b er 1984 to  January 1988 detailing m y efforts 
to  obtain access w hile p rep arin g  The Letters o f  
H enri d e  Toulouse-Lautrec, recently p u b lish ed  by 
Oxford University Press.

You will read  a  Byzantine tale o f evasion, lying, 
an d  p u shing th ro u g h  th e Texas Legislature a m ost 
obnoxious inform ation control law for th e  m ost self- 
serving, anti-scholarship, anti-research, anti-intel­
lectual purposes.—H erbert D. Schimmel, N ew  York, 
N ew  York ■  ■

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