The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a grant of $200,000 to UCLA for preliminary planning of a proposed specialization in Book and Paper Conservation within the Master of Library and Information Studies degree. Currently there is a national shortage of specialists in book and document conservation for museums, libraries, archives and special collections. Because of this shortage, in 2015 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation issued a Request for Proposals from institutions that might be interested in exploring the establishment of a book and paper conservation master’s degree program. UCLA decided that a book and paper conservation program on campus would be an excellent fit with the University’s existing campus resources and already established partnerships with regional museums, libraries, archives and special collections – and submitted a proposal for a planning grant. In December 2015, UCLA was extremely honored to be selected by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for one of two planning grants they awarded.
“It is a happy coincidence that the Centennial Campaign for UCLA – honoring the 100 Anniversary of the establishment of the Southern Campus of the University of California in Los Angeles in 1919 – is now in full mode,” notes Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, UCLA Wasserman Dean of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. “The Centennial Campaign is an opportunity to envision the future of UCLA over the next 100 years, and I very much hope that in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UCLA becomes a premier leader in the preparation of book and paper conservators for the next century. UCLA is an important global center for Information Studies, libraries, and archives, and is an ideal home for the future of the conservation and preservation of significant collections in Los Angeles and worldwide.”
The proposed Conservation Specialization within the UCLA Department of Information Studies would provide students with a critical background in Information through completion of an American Library Association-accredited MLIS graduate program. At present, the Department of Information Studies at UCLA offers specializations in Archival Studies, Informatics, Library Studies, and recently added Rare Books/Print and Visual Culture, and Media Archives, providing increased opportunities for students to learn the history and appraisal of rare materials, and to learn about managing and preserving audiovisual tape and digital media. Students within all of these specializations enroll in a number of recently updated core courses, and choose from a multitude of electives, internships, and field work opportunities to develop skills needed within and beyond their specialization.
The planning for the proposed UCLA Book and Paper Conservation Program will be led by Ellen Pearlstein, UCLA Associate Professor of Information Studies and the UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials. Professor Pearlstein is the recipient of the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award for distinguished teaching and mentoring in the field of Conservation. Experts from the UCLA Library, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute, universities including Michigan, Illinois, and Harvard, a regional conservation laboratory, and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens will be involved in this year of planning, along with other experts in book and paper conservation.
“I firmly believe that Information Studies at UCLA is the perfect context for a program of the kind envisaged by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,” says Jonathan Furner, Chair of the UCLA Department of Information Studies. “We have a tradition of emphasizing the values of conservation and preservation in our existing educational programs; we have exceptionally strong relationships with our local archival, library, and museum partners; and we are located at the hub of a global network of expertise in the provision of care for book and paper materials. We are confident that we can take full advantage of the planning period to develop a curriculum of the highest quality, to complete designs for a state-of-the-art teaching laboratory, and to continue to develop relationships that will ensure the program’s sustainability.”
The planning activities supported by this grant will take place between January and December 2016, and will focus on four areas: curriculum and laboratory design for the program; visits to other book and paper conservation laboratories; development of design documents to guide the renovation of campus space that would become a state-of-the-art book and paper conservation teaching laboratory; and fundraising for an Endowed Directorship, an Endowed Chair in Book and Paper Conservation, the new state of the art Book and Paper Conservation Laboratory, and scholarships for graduate students in the program.
After this initial year of planning, UCLA hopes to become the permanent site for a new Book and Paper Conservation Program that will serve as an ongoing nationwide resource, preparing the next century of conservators for the nation’s museums, libraries, and special collections.
For information about current planning for this proposed UCLA Book and Paper Conservation program, please contact Ellen Pearlstein.
Updated 03/07/16
L-R: Elmer Eusman, Library of Congress; Lisa Forman, Getty Research Institute; Holly Moore, Huntington Library and Museum; Ellen Pearlstein, UCLA Department of Information Studies (IS); Brandy Watts, UCLA IS; Janet Ruggles, Balboa Art Conservation Center; Doris Hamburg, National Archives and Research Administration; Chela Metzger, UCLA Library Conservation Center; Cathleen Baker, University of Michigan; Penley Knipe, Harvard University Straus Center; Jennifer Hain Teper , University of Illinois; and Nancy Turner, J. Paul Getty Museum.
Photo by Elizabeth Kalbers, UCLA IS