ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2 0 0 2 / 431 From cataloger to curator The Korean exhibits of an accidental ethnic librarian by Jina Choi W akim oto F our years ago, I attended the opening reception of an excellent exhibit at Cali­ fornia State University, Northridge (CSU of Chinese snuff bottles curated by a Chi­ nese-American librarian. I was lost in my e n ­ joyment of the w ide array of specim ens and happy to view the results of someone else’s work. I was surprised w hen m ore than one col­ league said, “You should do a Korean exhibit.” “Me?,” I asked. This is the story of w here those comments led. I started as a full-time cataloging librarian at CSUN four years ago. I was return­ ing to the profession after a decade of hiatus and had m uch to catch u p o n in learning the new technol­ Hyungbae (square insignia) 19th- century embroidered on silk, from the collection o f Robert Moore. o g y a n d r e le a r n in g th e rules. I im m ersed myself in every detail of AACR2, the CONSER manual, and MARC formats— busy and quite content with my life as a cataloger. Not too long after I settled into this routine, I attended the fate­ ful snuff bottle exhibition. I cam e to the States from Korea as a teen­ ager w ith a h e a d full o f nothing b u t the N thoughts of a teenager. As an adult, if ever I gave it a m om ent’s thought, Korean culture ), to m e was som ething in the ancient past with no relevance to a life revolving around my w ork and a house in suburbia with two chil­ d r e n , tw o c a ts , a n d a m inivan. I o w n e d few, if a n y , K o re a n th in g s a n d n o t h in g o f a n y c o n s e ­ q u e n c e . My la s t n a m e , W akim oto, w h ic h I have b o r n e fo r m o re th a n 20 years, is Japanese. I could have forgotten all about my colleagues’ sug­ gestion, but I am sufficiently Korean to have a sense of duty that w ould not let me. As I thought about this chal­ le n g e /pred icam en t, ī was o v ertak en by m any e m o ­ tions. I was struck by my al­ m ost total ignorance of my ow n heritage—the result of years of assimila­ tion in this country. First o v e rw h e lm ed by th e com plexity of th e task b e fo re m e, I th e n b e c am e re s e n t­ ful. W hat m ad e them th in k th at I c o u ld or sh o u ld d o a K orean exhibit? W hat m ade them th in k that I w o u ld k n o w m ore a b o u t About the author Jina Choi Wakimoto is cataloging coordinator a t California State University, Northridge, e-mail: jina.wakimoto@csun.edu C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news mailto:jina.wakimoto@csun.edu 432 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 K o re a n c u ltu re or history th an any oth er Am erican? A bout this time I read a b o o k by Eric Liu, The A c c id e n ta l A sian.' The author’s story of ho w he cam e to accept his Asian-American identity resolved som e o f my d o u b ts and e m boldened m e to begin. D r a w in g u p a p la n First, I p o n d e re d the p u rp o se o f a Korean exhibit. I d ecided it w ould be successful if it w ere to: • educate the cam pus com ­ m unity by raising its aw areness a n d appreciation of the tradi­ tions a n d culture of Korea, • bring together the large Korean com m unity o f the San Fernando Valley and other parts o f Los A ngeles, en co u ra g in g them to w ork together on p ro ­ m oting Korean studies, and • build a potential d o n o r base by identifying individuals a n d groups w h o w ould be will­ ing to support such endeavors. I was keenly aware that such exhibits and events should not be a one-time entertainm ent for m ainstream society, supported by the generous donation of the ethnic com m unity. Education a n d o u tre a ch are c o n tin u in g Glazed p o rce la in 18th- century bottle w ith under­ glaze decoration, from the collection o f Dae Sung Choi. com m itm ents. O nce you em ­ bark, how ever tentatively, you m ust keep going for there is no backing out. At this point, I w as m entally prep ared and ready to get busy. I drew u p a plan consist­ ing o f the following steps: • decide o n th e them e a n d focus of the exhibit, • w rite u p a plan o f action, including a detailed timeline, • b e flexible a nd p repared for unexpected circumstances, and • m eet all the p eo p le in the library and the university w h o might share an interest in such an exhibit (the CSUN Library’s d evelop­ m ent director, the exhibit committee, and fac­ ulty m em bers in other departm ents). This list in hand, I set out to build a su p ­ p o rt group for the exhibition. The success of an exhibition is largely dependent o n the sup­ port o f those w ith the sam e goals. I form ed the “Task Force for Korean Culture at CSUN” w ith a faculty m em ber in th e Theater D epart­ m ent and another w ho was preparing to teach a Korean art history class. O ur idea w as to create the exhibition b u t also to b e a c o n ­ tinuing resource for Korean studies at CSUN. T a k in g th e p la n t o th e c o m m u n ity Now it was time to go o u t to the community. Im m ediately I was p resented w ith a seem ­ ingly small but significant problem — my nam e card. It read: Jina W akim oto, cataloging librarian. Those w ho know the painful history o f Ko­ rea u n d e r Japanese rule in the not-too-distant past will u n d e r­ stand my difficulty in approach­ ing the Korean com m unity for support and donations. With the support of Sue Curzon, CSUN’s library dean, I w as able to print a n e w b ilin g u a l n a m e card , w h ic h in c lu d e d m y K o re a n m aiden name. I started with the Korean Cul­ tural Center (KCC), w hose chief p u rp o se is to prom ote the un ­ derstanding o f Korean culture and aid any organization in such an effort. I discussed my tenta­ tive plan for the exhibit and the open in g reception w ith KCC’s director and cultural consultant. I review ed the resources avail­ able on site and secured a few items for loan for the exhibit. I h a d learned that it is veiy im portant to share a m eal w ith Koreans, so I took the cul­ tural consultant to lunch. To paraphrase a p o p u lar proverb, “W hen in K oreatow n, do as Koreans d o .” I m ade frequent visits to Los A ngeles’s K oreatow n in the next several m onths. A call to the Los Angeles County M useum o f Art (LACMA) connected m e with Robert Moore, a private collector o f Asian objets d ’art, in­ cluding m any priceless Korean treasures, and he generously agreed to len d m any items to us. I visited a h a n b o k sh o p w ith dozens of colorful traditional costum es of different styles a n d learned m ore about the significance of the traditional designs a n d symbols. I visited C&RL News ■ June 2002 / 433 a Korean Dance Academy to invite their danc­ ers to perform at the exhibit and discussed the dance perform ances w e w ould feature in the opening program. D uring this perio d , I b o rro w e d m any books and read nightly as part of my crash course in Korean art, culture, and history. This w as an intense time because all of my eve­ nings and w eekends w ere occupied with this singular challenge, and I was still carrying out my day job as a cataloger. My husband and teenagers cheerfully p u t up with my ab­ sences and the house filled with books and Korean objects. My first exhibit was called “Mi: Beauty in Korean Art & Culture” and o p en ed on April 23, 1999.2“Mi” was an introduction to Korean culture. As such, it featured m ore popular items and show y aspects: calligraphy and printing blocks, embroidery, personal orna­ ments, various types of pottery, and paint­ ings. In addition to descriptive labels for the items, som e notes giving the historical back­ ground, a m ap, and a brief chronology of Korea w ere displayed. Then cam e the day of reckoning— o p en ­ ing day. There w ere five sets of tall and col­ orful drums on the portico outside the library, a n d dan cers in full K orean costum e in bril­ liant colors aw aited th eir tim e to perform . A c o rn e r o f th e lo b b y w as d e c o ra te d as a sc h o la r’s room w ith traditional K orean fur­ niture, folding sc re e n , a n d b a m b o o mat, re a d y for th e p la n n e d c a llig ra p h er’s d e m ­ onstratio n . K orean fo o d a n d d rin k w e re in th e o p p o s ite corner. G uests b e g a n to ar­ rive early. Everything w as ordered an d serene. Then there w as a loud thunderclap, a lightning storm, and hail pelting dow n in full force! This does not happen in Los Angeles in April. I hid in an office going over my speech and thinking back over all the preparations until it was time to face the standing room only crowd. As I w ent outside, a rainbow appeared in the sky! All was well. The n e x t e x h ib it I did not long to create another exhibit, d e ­ spite the success of my first attempt. H ow ­ ever, I had m ade a com m itm ent to prom ote Korean culture, and I knew I w ould have to continue. In addition, because of the public­ ity in local p ap ers, com m unity m em bers sought me out. Thus I cam e to know Peter Maeng, w h o collects rare books on Korea Tips for successful exhibits O v e ra ll p la n n in g • Begin planning six m onths prior to opening. • M ake a to -d o list a n d esta b lish a timeline. • Put your exhibit on the campus calendar as soon as possible. • Involve faculty m em bers interested in the exhibit subject. • Contact cultural center/consulate general. • Contact local museums. • Identify potential sponsors and donors. • Establish budget and write grant proposal. • Secure funding and sponsorship. • Prepare press releases. E x h ib it • Identify categories of culture to highlight. • Select and acquire items to exhibit. • Prepare labels for items and historical background. • Allow a minimum o f three days for installation. O p e n in g re c e p tio n • Plan the program —keep it simple and appropriate for the audience. • Bring in authentic food a n d drink, w hich are always popular. • Design invitation and send to printer six w eeks in advance. • Prepare guest list for invitation: Friends of the Library, university administrators and deans, officials from a cultural center/con- sulate general, prom inent m em bers of the cultural comm unity • Design flyers (bilingual, if necessary) for general distribution. • Send out invitations three w eeks in advance. • Send press releases twice—one m onth prior to a n d one w eek after the opening. 434 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 written by westerners or Koreans with a west­ ern education. ī pro p o sed that w e should provide a venue to show case his collection, and he readily agreed. This was the origin of a second, m ore scholarly, exhibit called “Land of the Morning Calm: the W estern View of Korea, 1741—1960,” featuring books from the Peter Maeng Collection.3 The earliest book in the collection is Jean- Baptiste du H alde’s four-volume General His­ tory o f C hina C ontain­ ing a Geographical, His­ torical, Chronological, P olitical a n d P hysical Description o f the E m ­ p ire o f China, Chineses- T a r ta ry , C orea a n d Thibet, the third edition of w hich was published in 1741. H alde’s w ork is a collection of published a n d u n p u b lis h e d a c ­ co u n ts by Je su it m is­ Tools used fo r calligraphy (bamboo brushes, ink stick and stone, w ater dropper).sionaries, w h o w ere the first Europeans to visit Korea. T he o th e r b o o k s inclu d e accounts by American Protestant missionaries w ho arrived in the 1880s, such as H om er B. Hulbert’s H is­ tory o f K orea, published in 1905; by early trav­ elers, such as Korea a n d the Sacred White M ountain, Being a B rie f A c c o u n t o f a Jour­ ney in Korea in 1891, by A. E. J. Cavendish; and by diplom ats, such as Life in Corea, by W. R. Carles, published in 1888. The collec­ tion includes several nationalist books in En­ glish by early Korean immigrants, such as Younghill Kang’s The Grass R o o f published in 1932, and includes m any books on the Ko­ rean War (1950-1953). The “Land of the Morning Calm” exhibit was accom panied by a lecture series. The year 2000 was significant as it m arked the 50th an­ niversary of the beginning of the Korean War; the historic meeting betw een the two Presi­ dents Kim of North and South Korea occurred; and the Nobel Peace Prize was aw arded to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. With these events in mind, I planned four weekly lectures, each with its ow n theme, and identi­ fied and contacted Korean Studies scholars in the Los Angeles area. All of them gladly agreed to speak to our faculty and students and to share their expertise. The exhibit o p e n e d on O ctober 3, 2000. During the opening reception, a history p ro ­ fessor from University o f Southern California presented a lecture, “The Turn of the 20th Century: Korea’s Discovery of the West.” The audiences listened with interest and am use­ m ent to this twist on the exhibit them e o f the w estern view of Korea. In the following week, the lecture “Early Printing in Korea” was given by a CSUN art history professor. Another fac­ ulty m em ber brought his class to the lecture, and a lively question and an­ sw e r se ss io n e n s u e d . The following week, w e view ed a clip of a Ko­ r e a n W ar d o c u m e n ­ ta ry — m a d e fro m th e newsreels of the time— follow ed by a lecture, “The Korea Summit and Beyond,” by a professor of Sociology and Korean Studies at UCLA. His lec­ tu re o n a very tim ely topic delineated realistic expectations for the tw o Koreas in the near-term and the long­ term. To e n d on a m ore cheery note, a travel­ ogue, A M orm on M issionary ’s E ncounter with Korea (1988-1990), w as presented by the cultural consultant for the Korean Cultural Center. This slide presentation show ed the Korean people in the countryside and their interaction with a m odern missionary. The success of the lecture series was due, in great part, to the generosity of the presenters w ho appeared without promise of material reward. So, here I am, forging ahead with my re­ solve to prom ote the art, history, and culture of Korea. Eveiy year or so, m any w eeks of organization, coordination, and hard w ork are required. Is it a burden to be an accidental Korean-American librarian? Yes. However, it is a bu rd en I no w gladly bear, because it forced m e to learn so m uch about my ow n heritage, and to reach out to those w h o yearn for know ledge of other cultures. It also al­ low ed m e the privilege of straddling tw o cul­ tures, understanding both and appreciating the unique aspects of each. For this, I am infinitely grateful to my co lle ag u e s w h o nudged and encouraged this then ignorant and reluctant ethnic librarian four years ago.4 (co n tin u ed on p a g e 452) 452 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 A c o m p re h e n s iv e c o lle c tio n o f b o o k s and other publications by the po et and novelist Jam es Dickey (1923—97) has been acquired by the University of South Carolina (USC). Dickey taught at USC for three decades as p o e t-in -resid e n ce a n d First C arolina professor of English. The collection comprises 436 first editions, limited editions, proofs, other books, and periodical issues containing Dickey items, many with personal inscriptions, covering the range of his career. The B a rb a ra H arbach C o lle c tio n has b e e n a c q u ired by W ilm ington College. H arbach is a noted com poser, performer, recording artist, and professor of music. She is also the founder, publisher, and editor-in- chief of Vivace Press, w h ich prom otes u n d e r r e p r e s e n t e d c o m p o s e r s ( m a in ly w o m e n ) by p u b lis h in g m u sic s c o re s , producing CDs on the Hester Park label, and issuing the W omen o f Note Quarterly journal. The H arbach Collection consists of H arbach’s c o m p le te p u b lis h e d c o m p o s itio n s a n d recorded w orks and perform ances, as well as a substantial portion of the catalog of Vivace Press and a com plete run of W omen o f Note Quarterly. A major collection of the w orks of author W. Somerset Maugham has been acquired by Boston University. The Loren and Frances Rothschild-W. Somerset Maugham Collection co n tain s h u n d re d s of letters chronicling M augham’s personal and intellectual life, ev­ ( “From C ataloger. . . ” continued fr o m page 43 N otes 1. Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian: Notes o f a Native Speaker (N ew York: Random House, 1998). 2. “Mi: Beauty in Korean Art and Culture” is a v a ila b le at h t t p : / / l i b r a r y .c s u n .e d u / jwakim oto/koreaexhibit.htm l (10/1/01). 3. “Land of the Morning Calm: the Western ( “W ashington H otline” contin u ed fr o m p a g e 4 then the full House, to pass this important leg­ islation, which has been held up to leverage passage of other legislation. Let’s get this bill out of committee and passed by Congress. O th e r h o t issu e s in C o n g re ss in c lu d e p riv a c y bills, a n d d a ta b a s e a n d d ig ital 4 ery significant first edition of the a uthor’s novels, short stories, and the original m anu­ scripts of The Gentleman in the P aulour and The P ainted Veil. Also included are personal docum ents and ephemera; audiovisual m ate­ rial; photographs and art of the author; thou­ sands of additional m anuscripts and type­ scripts, page proofs, and galleys dating from 1906 to 1953; and m ore than 200 periodicals containing the first publication of many of M augham’s works. The p a p e rs o f th e la te Dr. W illia m Kaufman, a leader in the field of vitamin therapy research, and the papers of his wife, Charlotte Schnee Kaufman, have b e e n ac­ quired by the University of Michigan (UM). Kaufman, w ho earned both his Ph.D. and M.D. at UM in the 1930s, is best know n for his research in the 1940s and 1950s on the use of Niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3) to treat osteoarthritis. Kaufman published m ore than 60 papers in scientific and m edi­ cal journals m ainly dealing with arthritis, nutrition, food allergy, and psychosom atic m edicine. He also published 25 articles for a general audience in such m agazines as Coro- netanà. M cCall’s. Charlotte Kaufman, a 1938 graduate of UM, acted as his research assis­ tan t for m any years a n d later serv ed as founder and executive director of the Fam­ ily Life Film Center of Connecticut, w here she p io n ee red techniques for using films followed by discussion. The archive consists of 30 feet of material. ■ ) View of Korea, 1741-1960” is available at http:// library.csun.edu/jwakimoto/maengexliibit.html (10/1/01). 4. A version of this pap er was first given at the First National Conference o n Asian Pacific American Librarians in San Francisco on June 14, 2001. ■ 1) rig h ts m a n a g e m e n t p r o p o s a ls . W atch fo r f u rth e r re p o r ts o r s u b s c rib e to th e e le c ­ tro n ic n e w s lin e , ALAWON. To s u b s c rib e , s e n d th e m e s s a g e : s u b s c r i b e a la - w o [ y o u r _ f ir s tn a m e ] [ y o u r _ l a s t n a m e ] to lis tp ro c @ a la .o rg . ■ 4 http://library.csun.edu/ mailto:listproc@ala.org