Annual Report FY 2017-18

For high schoolers, a bridge to Berkeley

The Library’s mission extends beyond this campus. Last year, the lending unit of Interlibrary Services partnered with local high schools to open our collections to the community. Throughout 2017, Shannon Monroe, head of Interlibrary Lending, or ILL, visited and hosted librarians from across the Bay Area to spread the word about the service and teach them how to request materials for students. In the spring of 2018, the pilot program’s first semester, ILL fulfilled nearly 40 requests for student projects — with materials ranging from historical Jewish documents to old California maps and census reports. Monroe, who attended Oakland public schools, says the program was created to share Berkeley’s resources with the underserved schools and families that need them most. ILL is also working with high school librarians and administrators to bring students to UC Berkeley for a tour of the Library and its services. “I completely relate to that community,” says Monroe, adding that she was taken aback when she arrived at Berkeley as a freshman. “If we could start early with some of these kids who don’t think they have the opportunity to come to Cal, we could open that door.”

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The story of the West, in treasures

One treasure at a time, The Bancroft Library’s rich collection on Western Americana helps tell the story of the West. Now, these materials — which make up the most heavily used collection at Bancroft — are about to become even more accessible. Leadership gifts totaling $4 million toward an $8 million goal launched Bancroft & the West, a new initiative that will help sustain the vital Western Americana collection and engage scholars with the materials that, piece by piece, illuminate the history of the vast expanse that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, from Alaska to Panama. Two million dollars from an anonymous donor and $1 million from Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bancroft III funded an endowment for the Western Americana curatorship. An additional $1 million from the same anonymous donor launched an endowment for the Western Americana program to sustain and grow this vital resource. “We are honored to provide scholars with increasing opportunities for inquiry into this collection, preserved at one of the premier research institutions in the world,” Paul “Pete” Bancroft says.