A Summer Project: Helping Plan an Academic Library and Archive

by Rachel Fox


When I began this program at San Jose State University, I was already employed as the Circulation Manager at a small academic library.  There have been many times during my academic career at San Jose State University where my classes and my professional work have connected, but this past year, a particular project stood out when I was involved in a building project for our library.  

When the rest of the country had been battling a bad economy, our school was blessed with donations to renovate and expand a portion of the library in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of our school’s president.  My classes Preservation Management and Information Organizations and Management helped prepare me for this new venture.  Three skills I learned in the process were to have good communication, flexibility, and planning.

How Do You Build a Library?

by Giovanna Forsyth

As current or aspiring librarians and archivists, we've all been to a really spectacular library. You know the one I'm talking about: with stairs leading to columns leading to a rotunda leading to a big oak desk, where you pass along all your vital information so that someone will go into a deep, dark cold vault and bring you something terribly old and awesome.  The first time I experienced this, I was in complete awe.  It was all so perfect, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  It never really occurred to me to think about how it all started, nor had  I even considered how a library goes about running so seamlessly.

Library Information Careers Emerging Titles and Trends

by Claire Escobosa

This summer I had a great experience completing a special project for Library 298. I updated the report on Library and Information Careers: Emerging Titles and Trends that Emma Keefe completed in 2009. You can find my report here: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/career_development/emergingtrends_2010.pdf. I would like to share my experience in case other students are curious about special projects and what they entail. 

Tour of the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills

by Alison Leonard

In June,the SJSU Society of American Archivists Student Chapter organized a tour for students at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills. The Library is part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, otherwise known as the Oscars.

Altogether the Academy is housed in three buildings in Los Angeles. The first is the Douglas Fairbanks Center, where the Library is located. Fairbanks,a leading cinematic actor in the 1920s, was  a founding member of the Academy (founded in 1927) and served as its first president. The Library was established a year later in 1928. The second building is the Pickford Center in Hollywood, where the Academy’s film archive is housed. The Pickford Centeris named for Fairbanks one-time-spouse,Mary Pickford. Pickford was also a leading actor in early cinema and a crusader of film preservation. .  Finally, the Academy Headquarters, in Beverly Hills, is where the executive offices are, as well as the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.