Ethnic Studies Library

WHY DONATE TO THE ETHNIC STUDIES LIBRARY?

By donating to the Ethnic Studies Library you will support the work of a unique institution. What makes the collections of the Ethnic Studies Library unique is that they were established by students who wanted to change the world. During the turbulent times of the Third World Liberation Front strike of the 1960s, they were fighting for a perspective and a respect that was lacking in the mainstream institutions on campus. They collected movement newspapers and journals that were not being collected elsewhere. They saved posters and flyers that are now historical artifacts. They had the conviction that if they did not save these materials, no one would. Today we are at the point in the history of the library where we must make sure that these materials are not only saved but also made accessible to students, scholars and community people. Our tenth anniversary celebration on November 8, 2007 marked the beginning of a fundraising campaign whose goal is to expand our archives processing space and to further develop these collections. If you are interested in helping with this goal and preserving this vital history, make a contribution here:

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC STUDIES LIBRARY

The library was established in 1997 by merging the Asian American Studies Library, the Chicano Studies Library and the Native American Studies Library. In the late 1960s, the collections of these founding libraries grew from student interest in collecting and preserving a perspective that was lacking in other campus libraries. The specialized ethnic studies books and serials, archival collections, posters, and audio collections from those three libraries live on in a centralized space on the ground floor of Stephens Hall. The library consists of these four collections: Asian American Studies Collection; Chicano Studies Collection; Native American Studies Collection; Comparative Ethnic Studies Collection.

TEN DISTINCTIONS OF THE ETHNIC STUDIES LIBRARY

In 1998, our staff received the Chancellor's Distinguished Service Team Award for their extraordinary work in setting up the new Ethnic Studies Library.
Our librarians have received the highest awards of the Association of Asian American Studies and of REFORMA, the national Latino librarian association.
The Native American Studies Librarian was elected to serve at the highest governance level of the American Library Association.
Dozens of scholarly publications acknowledge the assistance of our staff.
The library has received two major grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, as well as grants from several other agencies, including the California State Library and the Librarians Association of the University of California.
The Chicano Database, the only online bibliographic resource devoted to Chicano Studies, is produced by our library and is distributed by OCLC to libraries nationwide.
Our Publications Unit has produced first-of-their-kind reference books such as: Arte Chicano: A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of Chicano Art, 1965-1981, the Chicano Anthology Index, the Chicana Studies Index, and A Sense of Place: Rudolfo A. Anaya: A Bio-Bibliography.
The Asian American archives contain over 100 collections that are considered invaluable by scholars worldwide, including the Kem Lee Photograph Archive and the Him Mark Lai Collection.
In 2007, the special collections of the Ethnic Studies Library were recognized by the Association of Research Libraries in its 75th anniversary commemorative volume.
The H.K. Yuen Social Movement Archive was selected as one of the Ten Treasures of the Ten Million, commemorating the ten millionth item received by the UC Berkeley campus.

ETHNIC STUDIES LIBRARY FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

Our goal is to renovate the archives processing room and to further develop all our collections. Please help us with a check payable to UC Regents and sent to:

Ethnic Studies Library
30 Stephens Hall
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2360

OR make a donation at this link:

For further information contact:
Lillian Castillo-Speed, Head Librarian
csl@library.berkeley.edu
510-642-3947

Thank you for your support!