Wednesday, August 19, 2009

SOS: UCLA Arts Library!

I read this distressing note about the impending closure of the famed Art Library at the UCLA by the authorities. Please read and circulate this signature drive,
Chika
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Dear friends,

Another arts institution has been targeted for elimination. In an attempt to
cut costs during the recession, UCLA has decided to shutter its
long-standing Arts Library‹permanently.

Please consider signing the following petition. Please circulate it widely.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-ucla-arts-library


We have also created a Facebook group you may join in solidarity or support:

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132785048409&ref=nf

Here is the text of our petition and a short explanation of the current
situation:

UCLA Library Management, behind closed doors and without consultation with
the UCLA community, has decided to close its Arts Library, potentially as
soon as January 2010.

For decades, the Arts Library has served faculty, students and the Southern
California community as an essential cultural resource. In terms of research
and scholarship it supports some of the nation's best programs in the arts,
architecture, art history, film, television, theater and the humanities.
With over 270,000 volumes and unique collections, the Arts Library is a
singular institution in Los Angeles, a burgeoning center for the arts. It
must be preserved.

We understand that the UCLA Library must meet a nearly $2 million shortfall.
However, the permanent elimination of an critical UCLA institution must not
be the solution to a short term budget crisis.