UCLA Librarian, Volume 52, 1999

16 Pages·1999·1.9 MB·English

by  University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Librarian

FROM
THE
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARIAN
In the previous issue of the UCLA Librarian we wrote about UCLA Library materials that have
appeared in exhibitions at museums around the world, reminding readers that they don’t necessarily
have to visit our libraries to experience the richness of our collections.
In this issue we focus on another way in which readers might have seen the libraries and
collections — in movies and on television. Both the Powell Library Building and the Charles
E. Young Research Library have been the settings for feature films and television programs
recently, playing roles ranging from the Stanford Library to an unnamed law library to the
library of the fictitious University of California, Sunnydale.
Although it’s fun to host the occasional film shoot, we’re delighted to have been in the spotlight
for another, more traditional reason as well. Library collections have been consulted by countless
writers, directors, and producers over the years in developing scripts and ascertaining the historical
accuracy of their stories and settings. Among the materials they’ve used have been our holdings on
writers Henry Miller, Paul Monette, and Ana'is Nin; artist Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who
accompanied her Japanese-American husband into an internment camp during World War II;
and Chicano/a history in Los Angeles during the 1940s.
The Library has been hosting entertainment of another sort over the past year, through the Powell
Library Music Series. Featuring talented UCLA students and faculty, the series presented afternoon
and evening concerts by a variety of individuals and groups, performing repertoire that included
Renaissance vocal and instrumental music, classical guitar, Bulgarian a capella singing, Korean
music and dance, folk and bluegrass, jazz, and much more. We’re pleased to share photos from
a few of this year’s vibrant performances.
There are several major announcements in this issue, including the long-awaited debut of ORION2,
the Library’s World Wide Web-based information system. Now users across the country and
around the world can search the library’s holdings with a simple click of their computer’s mouse.
We’re also pleased to introduce the new head of the Department of Special Collections in the
Young Research Library and the new director of development for the UCLA Library.
Sitting at your computer, in front of your television, or in your local movie theater — more
and more, the UCLA Library comes to you!
Gloria Werner
A
2

mm i
The UCLA Library has gone Hollywood - but
it’s not what you think. No klieg lights rake the
sky, no red carpet leads to the entrance, no
staff members sport jewels and designer clothes
and pose for photographers.
Instead, it’s the library buildings themselves
that have taken the spotlight, serving as the
location for many feature film, television,
and commercial film shoots.
Not surprisingly, the star has been the hand¬
somely renovated, historic Powell Library
Building. In "Erin Brockovich,” this spring’s
hit film starringjulia Roberts, the title character
conducts some research while investigating
contaminated water in a small California town.
Brockovich/Robei'ts walks across the quad and
up the steps into Powell, then talks with a
researcher who fills her in on the dangers the
chemical in the water may pose.
Like all good actors, Powell has proven its
versatility. The 1998 film "A Murder of Crows,”
starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Berenger,
and Eric Stoltz, combines literature, lawyers,
and murder in a tale of a disbarred lawyer
(played by Gooding) who takes credit for a
murder mystery he didn’t write — then becomes
the suspect in a string of serial murders when
the events in the book turn out to be real.
Powell plays several roles in this film. 1 he
sunny reading area south of the rotunda stands
in for a public library in New Orleans where
a former colleague delivers information to
Gooding on a possible suspect in the murders.
Then the library’s stacks play those of a law
library, in which Gooding researches cases that
one of the victims, a lawyer, was involved with.
Acclaimed director Robert Snyder drew upon
collections in the YRL Department of Special
Collections for his film biographies of Henry
Miller and Ana'is Nin.
Miller and Lawrence Clark Powell, UCLA’s
second university librarian, were lifelong
friends, having first met in Dijon, France, in
the early 1930s. In Snyder’s film "The Henry
Miller Odyssey,” Powell describes a visit to
Miller’s Big Sur house in the 1950s, when he
saw a carton of papers that Miller said he was
going to throw away and asked if he could take
them for the UCLA Library. Miller agreed,
and many more papers followed them over
the ensuing years.
Today, the Library houses a comprehensive
collection of Miller’s letters, including corre¬
spondence with Lawrence Durrell, T.S. Eliot,
Fernand Leger, and Jean Renoir, among many
others. The Miller collection also includes books,
clippings, magazines and related manuscripts,
and other printed materials by Miller, his critics,
and colleagues as well as microfilm copies of
the first drafts of Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn,
the dream book, and the Paris notebooks.
"Ana'is Nin Observed,” Snyder’s documentary
on Miller’s friend Nin, follows the author
through a series of conversations about her life
and work with the camera as well as with other
people. In particular, she discusses her famous
diaries as she works to prepare an edited version
for publication. The Library’s Nin collection
includes those diaries as well as manuscripts,
related papers, tapes and films, and correspon¬
dence, including letters between Miller and Nin.
When "Zoot Suit” by Luis Valdez opened at Los
Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum in 1978, it was an
immediate sensation. On a factual level, the
But Powell isn’t always playing a role; sometimes
play is based on the notorious Sleepy Lagoon
it gets to be itself — an undergraduate library.
murder of 1942, in which a young man was
In this season’s episodes of the television series
found dead and police questioned some 600
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the title character
Latino youths about the murder, and the zoot
started college at the fictitious University of
suit riots the following year, in which service¬
California, Sunnydale. Parts of several episodes
men on shore leave went to East L.A. and
were filmed at UCLA, including key scenes set
confronted anyone wearing a zoot suit. But on
in Powell.
a more mystical level it follows the character El
Pachuco, played by Edward James Olmos, who
Although the Powell Library may be the star,
as a combination Greek chorus/Chicano alter
the Charles E. Young Research Library (YRL)
ego alternately provokes the play’s characters
has shared the spotlight. The hit Fox series
and explains their actions.
"Party of Five” follows the trials and tribulations
of the five Salinger kids, who grew up on their
own after their parents died in a tragic car
accident. During this award-winning series’
fifth season in 1998, YRL played the role of the
library at Stanford, where Julia (Neve Campbell)
was going to college.
But of course the UCLA Library is more than
just a pretty face, and numerous prestigious
productions have relied upon Library
collections.
Earning an Academy Award in 1990 for short- Previous spread: (l-r) Lawrence
subject documentary was "Days of Waiting” by
Steven Okazaki, about artist Estelle Peck Ishigo. Durrell, Lawrence Clark Powell,
Ishigo was interned at Heart Mountain Reloc¬
and Henry Miller following a
ation Center in Wyoming with her Japanese-
American husband during World War II; this
screening of Robert Snyder’s film
film uses her words, drawings, paintings, and
photographs to paint a heartbreaking portrait
hosted by the Friends of the
of the difficulties of camp life and their struggle
to readjust after the war. UCLA Library to celebrate
In developing his film, Okazaki utilized materials Miller’s 80th birthday in lp72.
in the Department of Special Collections’
Japanese American Research Project, which
documents the Japanese-American experience
Left: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
in Southern California. Ishigo’s papers include
records, correspondence, photographs, paintings,
goes to college.
While researching the historical background of drawings and sketches, and watercolor drawings
the play, Valdez utilized materials in the YRL related to her internship and subsequent
Department of Special Collections, which has resettlement in Southern California.
major holdings on Chicano/a history, especially Below: (l-r) Rose Portillo,
regarding immigration, labor, and social justice These are only a few of the many films and
Daniel Valdez, Evelina
from the 1920s through the 1940s. Among the television programs that have drawn on the
materials housed in the department are the UCLA Library over the years. From a versatile
Fernandez, Edward James
papers of Carey McWilliams, who was chairman location for filming to an incredibly rich
of the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee, and research resource on a variety of subjects, the
Olmos, Rachel Levario and Mike
Alice Greenfield McGrath, who worked as a Library has developed a partnership with the
volunteer, then as executive secretary for the region’s entertainment industry, enriching Gomez in the world premiere
committee. audiences across the country and around the
world as a result. production of "/(pot Suit."
"Zoot Suit” went from the Taper stage to a
highly successful run at the Aquarius Theater
in Hollywood, then became the first pky&gfcsyL
Chicano to be produced on Broadway
Universal Pictures released a film version in
1981, in which Valdez captured the theatrical
qualities of his original staging; the film earned
a Golden Globe nomination for best musical
and continues to be screened across the country.
Several other award-winning films haves drawn
on Library materials. "Paul Monette: Th<e Brink
of Summer’s End” follows this acclaim ed gay
writer and activist over the course of th ree and
a half years as he struggles to keep wor and
enjoy life while dying of AIDS. In res earching
this production, filmmaker Monte Bra mer drew
on Monette’s papers, which are housed! in the
YRL Department of Special Collectiortij These
holdings include correspondence, marlu scripts,
proofs, notes, screenplays, plays, daybooks,
photographs, clippings, and other printed
materials related to Monette’s life and literary
career. The film earned the audience award for
best documentary at the 1997 Sundanc |
International Film Festival.
o w
p
Begi NNING TII J AZZ ST ED BY THE UCLA Gluck Jazz Combo in CTOBER AND ENDING WITH KOREAN MUSIC
AND DA£NCE IN MaY, THF ill Music Series offered a dazzling showcase for talented students and faculty
m
■
The UCLA Gluck String
Quartet, comprised of
the principal players from
the UCLA Philharmonia
Orchestra, has performed
throughout Los Angeles
and Southern California.
A Korean music and
dance program featured
the stunning sound of
an 8o-member drum
up performing
traditional Samulnori
and new Korean drum
Katharina Olivia
music and professional
Brand performed works
dancers in vivid
hy Bach, Beethoven,
costumes performing
Haydn, and Mozart on
traditional Korean
replicas of a classical
dances.
78o fortebiano and a
mid-l 8th-century
clavichord, the instru¬
ments the compositions
were created for.
In addition to the GluckJazz Combo, the fall qujIrter featured Musica Humana, the
UCLA Early Music Collective, performing Renais SA NCE VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC;
and Trailer Park McShank, with their repertoire of American folk and bluegrass as
well as Irish and Celtic music.
The UCLA Gluck Woodwind Quartet kicked ofiI THE WINTER QUARTER, FOLLOWED BY
the Early Music Collective performing vocal AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FROM THE
Enlightenment; and North Indian classical musiJ FEATURING SITAR, TABLA, AND VOICE.
In ADDITION TO THE PERFORMERS PICTURED ON THESE PAGES, THE SPRING QUARTER ALSO FEATURED
SuperDevoiche, a UCLA women’s Bulgarian singing ensemble; and classical guitarists
Larijani & Salvado.
The music series will resume in the fall. Informati ON WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE COLLEGE
Library Web site at <http^www.library.ucla.edu/li BRARIES/ COLLEGE/ NWSEVNTs/pOWMUSIc/
INDEX.HTM> OR BY CALLING SERIES ORGANIZER KaREN B AXTER AT 310/206-4219.
Liu also cited Gass’s praise of the physi-
cality of books versus their representation on a
computer screen: "I cannot carry them beneath
a tree or onto a side porch; I cannot argue in
Oryun haengsilto.
their margins; I cannot enjoy the memory of
Korea: Kim Pyong-
my dismay when, perhaps after years, I return
haklO [1859].
to my treasured copy of Treasure Island to find the
Revised and recompiled
jam I inadvertently smeared there still spotting
version combining two
Ia page precisely at the place where Billy Bones
books on Confucian
chases Black Dog out of the Admiral Benbow
ethics, Samgang
with a volley of oaths and where his cutlass
haengsilto and
misses its mark to notch the inn’s wide sign
Iryun haengsilto,
instead.” Gass’s essay, "In Defense of the
containing the original
Book,” originally appeared in the November
Chinese version along
1999 issue of Harper’s Magazine and was reprinted
with Korean transla¬ "The best ones are the most personal...”
in the Los Angeles Times Book Review.
tions and illustrations.
Following Liu’s remarks, the award winners
"In the ideal logotopia, every person would
were announced. First prize in the undergrad¬
possess his own library, ” said author Aimee Liu
uate category went to Martine Fontana for
(pictured above), quoting a recent essay by
"Splendors of the Anasazi World,” and first
William Gass.
prize in the graduate category went to Dean J.
And the students who participated in the
Tantillo for "Enough to Drive One Mad: Two
2000 Robert B. and Blanche Campbell
Centuries of Learning and Teaching Organic
Student Book Collection Competition are
Chemistry.”
already well on their way, compiling extensive
Maggi Michel earned the outstanding
collections on subjects ranging from the
children’s collection award for "Generations
Anasazi to organic chemistry to children’s
of Women and Books: A Heritage of Literacy,”
literature.
a collection built up over generations by her
Liu, who served as guest judge for the
grandmother, her mother, and now her.
contest, spoke at the awards ceremony on April
Sara Montano received the undergrad¬
19 and praised all the collections as "intensely
Korea Foundation Gift to Support
uate second prize for "Living in a Dream:
personal.” She has earned critical acclaim for
East Asian Library Collections
Illustrated Classic Children’s Books,” and
Face and Cloud Mountain, her two novels exploring
Steven Ropp received the graduate second
issues of Chinese-American identity and his¬
The Korea Foundation recently approved a
prize for "Asian Peruvians.” The Library Staff
tory, and described the development of her
multi-year grant submitted collectively by the
Association Prize was awarded to Didier Y.
own collection through the process of doing
Korean Collections Consortium of North
Reiss for "The Five Books of Moses in Jewish
research on her books.
America, of which the Richard C. Rudolph
Eyes: Translations and Commentaries.”
Again quoting Gass, she noted, "Every
East Asian Library is a member. The grant will
In addition to Liu, Deborah Costa,
real book ... is a mind, an imagination, a
provide annual support of $20,000 for each
reference services coordinator in the College
consciousness.” In her case, she said, her books
member of the consortium over a five-year
Library, and Philip Rech, resource use supervisor
contained not only her own mind but also the
period (2000 through 2004), amounting to
in the Management Library, served as judges.
minds of the authors of all the books brought
total assistance of $100,000 per member.
Each of the finalists received a book donated by
to bear upon them.
This funding will be devoted to the
the UC Press and a year’s membership in the
library’s Korean book fund and will be used
Friends of the UCLA Library.
to enhance holdings of Korean vernacular-
Funded in part by a bequest from the late
language materials. The library’s Korean
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, the contest is spon¬
collection, developed since 1985, currently
sored by the Friends of the UCLA Library, the
has strengths in the areas of history, literature,
Library Staff Association, the UCLA Library,
and religion.
other donors to the Campbell Competition
The East Asian Library celebrated its 50th
Endowment, and the University of
anniversary in 1998- It houses the largest East
California Press.
Asian collection in Southern California and
the I2th largest in North America and serves
as a valuable resource to UC faculty and
students as well as to the local community
and scholars worldwide.
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