History of the library system University of California, Los Angeles Library

1 history of library system

1.1 1883-1944: laying foundation
1.2 1944-1961: powell years
1.3 1961-1977: accumulation , expansion
1.4 1977-present

history of library system
1883-1944: laying foundation

the university library @ los angeles founded in 1883, 2 years after establishment of known california state normal school. library s first acquisition survey of wyoming , idaho dr. ferdinand vandeveer hayden in 1910, elizabeth fargo began tenure university s first librarian , 1919, university library operated staff of four. 1931, library had collected 24,000 volumes , ranked 36th in country princeton library survey.

upon elizabeth fargo s retirement in 1923, john e. goodwin took helm librarian collection of 42,000 volumes, tended 12 staff members. goodwin planned orderly expansion of library immediate reclassification of books dewey decimal system library of congress classification system. opposed , defeated proposal make library @ los angeles adjunct collection of main research library @ uc berkeley.

starting in 1929, goodwin oversaw construction , development of main library, built after university settled in present location in westwood. goodwin saw bequest of william andrews clark memorial library ucla in 1934. time goodwin retired in 1944, library collection had grown 462,000 volumes, supported 52 staff members.

1944-1961: powell years

appointed replace goodwin in 1944, lawrence clark powell began series of systematic changes , acquisitions meant increase prestige of ucla library system. during powell s tenure, library saw major expansion of facilities central book stack completed. during period, concerted effort made provide new or more comprehensive collections support academic research being conducted on campus. in 1959, powell named founding dean of school of library service (now part of ucla graduate school of education , information studies), position hold until 1966. several facilities @ ucla later named after powell, including undergraduate college library. work ucla libraries, powell wrote

1961-1977: accumulation , expansion

robert vosper hired university librarian in 1961, , following year, ground broken first unit of university research library, charles e. young research library. completed in 1964, construction of research library entailed carting approximately 4 million index cards , 14 miles of books around campus. newly completed six-story facility became administrative center ucla library system. main library converted college library. 1964, library ranked 11th in country, more 2 million volumes. having been founded sixty years prior, ucla library on pace becoming 1 of important libraries in country.

vosper succeeded page ackerman in 1973, served librarian until retirement in 1977. first woman in united states head library system of such scale. ackerman saw development of library s administrative network, became innovative model library management systems across country. during tenure, ackerman oversaw increased coordination of efforts libraries of uc campuses, necessity came brought state budget problems. under ackerman, ucla library acquired collections on many important figures, including ralph j. bunche, gertrude stein , anaïs nin.

1977-present

powell library

since ackerman s retirement in 1977, ucla has seen steady increase in collections, facilities , staff under librarians russell shank (1977–1990), gloria werner (1990–2002), gary e. strong (2003–2013), , virginia steel (2013-present). library collection consists of more 8 million volumes , more 78,000 current serial titles , aggressively expanding electronic resources collection. ucla library member of association of research libraries, coalition of networked information, center research libraries, council on library , information resources, international federation of library associations , institutions, , scholarly publishing , academic resources coalition.