A GIFT FOR THE AGES - The University of California Berkeley ...

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University Librarian’s Letter VISIT doe100.berkeley.edu TO LEARN MORE 6 • fiat lux • Fall 2011 At the end of the first decade of the 20th century, as horse teams and steam engines appeared on campus to build the Charles Franklin Doe Memorial Library, Californians were hearing new words. Picture them as a word cloud, like the one shown above, over the granite lintel marked The University Library. Hometown had just been coined, so students had something new to miss, and also a worrisome metaphor for life here: ivory tower. For freshmen of 1912, ambivalence was another new word in the dictionary. This cloud of words reminds us that Doe was built to capture and preserve new ways of thinking. Over this past century, no institution can match the research library in doing this. Libraries in the digital age remain the only institutions we should trust to stay on the job. THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AT 100 Airmail Waldorf Salad Taupe Vitamin Jazz Blues Insulin Chardonnay Blues Chardonnay Jazz Airmail Y-Chromosome Waldorf Salad Y-Chromosome Taupe Insulin Creative expressions, like scientific discoveries, cannot be anticipated. Who could have predicted the deep impact of these words, coined as Doe was built? Libraries work best when they organize information so that surprises make sense. Librarians of 1912 could not know that in a few years women would have the vote, a telephone call could be made across the continent, and sites such as the Grand Canyon would become National Vitamin Parks. All Doe could do was to be alive to the possibilities and grab the record of change. Centennials are usually marked by lists of “firsts.” It is more important to be reminded of first principles. If they are still right, the institution has a promising new century ahead.
Thanks to an outpouring of effort by library professionals and faculty, we will be illustrating these principles in the year ahead, culminating in an open house in March 2012. Centennials are also supposed to be fun, and though you will not see any of us dressed in the fashions of 1912, we promise a good time. Fireworks in the logo (to the right), with surprises to follow. The Doe Centennial Committee will liberate the monumental painting of Bishop Berkeley from museum storage, offering our namesake an honored place in the Library this centennial year. We liked the expression on his face as he embraced a book. And we were pleased to see that Berkeley was pictured with his words, “Westward the course of empire . . .” — read to mean that California’s moment in history has arrived. Thomas C. Leonard Kenneth and Dorothy Hill University Librarian
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Page 17 and 18: HOT OFF THE PRESS Top Journalist’
Page 19 and 20: Johnny and Christina Yap Irven F. Y
Page 21 and 22: Mr. Kristan Monsen Rey Craven Monso
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