ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries November 1991 / 649 PRESERVATION NEWS P r e p a r e d b y B a r b a r a B r o w n College Libraries Committee Commission on Preservation and Access • Amherst, Massachusetts. The Amherst College Archives has received two federal Morrow Papers. The National Endowment for the Humani­ ties Division of Preservation and Access and the U.S. D epartm ent of Education Higher Education Act, Title II-C Program have joined forces in pro­ viding $105,000 to support this 18-month project. Anne Ostendarp has been named project archivist; preservation officer Daria D ’Arienzo will be project director. Diplomat, financier, and lawyer Dwight W. Morrow (1873-1931) corresponded with busi­ ness, political, and international leaders such as Reuben Clark, Calvin Coolidge, T. Coleman duPont, and Sir Arthur Salter. The 120 linear feet collection was donated by Mrs. Morrow in 1954. For addi­ tional information on the project contact: Anne Ostendarp, College Archives, Robert Frost Library, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002; (413) 542- 2299. • Albany, N ew York. The first environmen­ tal control publication developed specifically for libraries, archives, and other organizations is called Conservation Environment Guidelines f o r Librar­ ies and Archives‚ and has been published by New York State Library’s Conservation/Preservation Pro­ gram. The 88-page resource packet discusses the conservation environment, collections environment assessment and monitoring, and compromises for conservation environment goals. It also addresses building environments and systems that can create a good conservation environment. The packet is available for $10.00 from: Tiffany H. Allen, The New York State Library, 10-C-47 Cultural Educa­ tion Center, Albany, NY 12230. Checks should be made payable to: The University of the State of New York. • W ashington, D.C. A new eight-panel pho­ tographic exhibit that draws attention to the preser­ vation and access of information in brittle books is available for short-term loan to universities and colleges, libraries, archives, scholarly societies, and other organizations from the Commission on Pres­ ervation and Access. The 10-by-7-foot modular display is built around a large full-color photograph of a brittle book with crumbling paper. The display includes velcro end panels for mounting informa­ tion and photographs specific to an institution’s own preservation program. Panels can be rearranged to serve as a complete backdrop for a conference booth or for a tabletop display. The exhibit is lightweight, portable, and easy to assemble. Institu­ tions can borrow the display free of charge but must pay shipping charges. For more information con­ tact: Trish Cece, Commission on Preservation and Access at (202) 483-7474. • Chicago, Illinois. A new Preservation Train­ ing Program being launched by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) intends to create a criti­ cal mass of institutional preservation programs managed by competent archival administrators, and to do so as rapidly and efficiently as possible. The program was recently awarded a $645,554 grant by the National Endowment for the Humani­ ties. SAA plans to train 60 archivists over a three- year period, examining preservation topics from a management point of view. More information is available from SAA, 600 S. Federal, Suite 504, Chicago, IL 60605. ■ ■ 650 / C&RL News R ecruitm ent and m entoring program s for African- Americans developed in California T he C alifornia L ibrarians Black C aucus of G reater Los Angeles (CLBC) and the Graduate School of Libraiy and Inform ation Science (GSLIS) at the University o f California Los Angeles (UCLA) have joined forces to develop a recruitm ent and m entoring program for African-Americans. “W e in the library community are concerned about the shortage of African-American librarians and we are developing aggressive programs to reach out to talented African- American students and bring them into the pro­ fe s s io n ,” e x p la in e d Beverly Lynch, dean of UCLA’s GSLIS. T h e C L B C /U C L A M entor Program ’s goals are threefold: 1) to in­ crease awareness of ca­ reer options in the field of library and informa­ tion science, 2) to en­ courage African-Ameri- cans to attain the MLS Brainstorming at UCLA degree at the GSLIS; and Univ., Northridge; Jo 3) to utilize practicing in­ Public Library; Eri formation professionals facilitator; and Sand in recruiting, retaining, Public and m entoring prospec­ tive and enrolled African-American students. The program is supported in p a rt by a $27,000 Library Services Construction Act grant award from the California State Library. During the past year a series o f workshops were h e ld to im p le m e n t t h e M e n to r P ro g r a m ’s goals.There w ere two workshops involving pro­ spective mentors; the first introduced the program and the GSLIS to CLBC m em bers and the second involved the actual training of m entors. A m entoring handbook, p re p are d by Eric Brasley, the project’s consultant from KPMG Peat Marwick Manage­ m ent Consultants, was used and may serve as a model to o ther organizations interested in develop­ ing similar m entoring programs. C ontact the stu­ dent services assistant at UCLA at (213) 825-5269 for m ore information about the handbook. Two other meetings targeting library leaders and o ther professionals w ere held to generate support for the program and aggressive recruitm ent activi­ ties. Library directors of public and academic li­ braries in Southern California m et at UCLA to discuss stra te g ies for re c ru itin g p e o p le from un d e rre p re se n te d groups, particularly African- Americans, into the information fìeld.The 25 li­ brary managers who a ttended spent an afternoon brainstorm ing ways to improve the general image of the profession and to identify viable strategies for recruiting stellar individuals into the profession. In a second meeting, career counseling directors from m ajor universities in the Southern California area were invited to UCLA. This information session review ed c a re e r op ­ tions in library and in­ formation science as it is shaped in the ‘90s, and explored ways in which they could forge p a r tn e r s h ip s w ith GSLIS and CLBC to achieve the program ’s goals. The GSLIS is fol­ lowing up on initial contacts m ade at both meetings with visits to their campuses and li­ : Clark Wong, Cal State brary systems during yce Sumbi, L A County 1991-92. c Brasley, discussion T o c o m p le te th e ra Reuben, L A County program implementa- Library. tionphase, a reception was held for prospec­ tive proteges to inform them of program benefits and to give them to opportunity to m eet GSLIS staff and CLBC members. E ric Brasley stressed that he wants African- Americans to be aware that the field of librarianship is m uch broader than traditionally thought. “The multicultural aspect o f today’s librarianship should make the field a great deal m ore attractive to African-Americans than it has been in the past,” Brasley said. "Ethnic communities are going to be relying m ore and m ore on libraries and databanks for information, and they are going to n eed skilled librarians who understand th eir concerns to assist them in accessing that information. T he goal o f the M entoring Program is to make sure those librarians are th ere for them .” CLBC and GSLIS share responsibility for ad­ ministering, promoting, and monitoring the pro­ gram. The program ’s success will b e m easured by how effective it is in increasing the num ber of African-Americans who com plete the graduate li­ brary program in the near future. To date, the program has 13 m entor/protege pairs. 1 1 649.pdf 650=.pdf