On November 11, 30 Scandinavian librarians came to see the new Library and enjoy a coffee hour with the professional staff. They hailed from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
In late April the Library entertained an enormous delegation (15 people) of architects, librarians, and administrators from Seitoku University in Japan. Seitoku is building a new library and representatives were in the US visiting the seven buildings their research identified as the best new buildings in our country. Not only was the Brooklyn College Library one of the seven, it was the only one in New York. Miriam Deutch and Jane Cramer did a fine job of answering the visitors' many questions.
In the March 2005 issue of College Planning & Management, the Library was cited in a group of four judged to have blended a traditional feel with up-to-date technology in order to become modern media centers.
Since the completion of the new Library, the Publications Office and the Library have been discussing the creation of a brochure to celebrate and commemorate the new building. That dream is now a reality, and this exciting publication (designed by Barbara Heyman and Joseph LoGuirato) will arrive from the printer within the next few weeks.
On June 15 NY Times reporter Marek Fuchs spent three and a half hours in the Brooklyn College Archives, talking with Anthony Cucchiara and his staff. Mr. Fuchs toured the 75th Anniversary exhibit and listened to the archivists and the conservator talk about the various collections under their care. Fuchs seemed fascinated by what makes archivists interested in their work, and he wanted to know if they had uncovered anything new during the organization of the 75th anniversary exhibit. When he learned that an alumnus had recently donated a huge fraternity paddle, he asked for that person's contact information.
Mr. Fuchs talked at length with the students in the Alan Dershowitz papers processing area, who were very quotable about the types of letters this distinguished alumnus has received, from hate mail (sometimes on flowery note cards) to more mundane pieces, including a letter offering Dershowitz $50 for getting the writer's driver's license re-instated. Fuchs met with conservator Slava Polishchuk and talked about his work in restoring and stabilizing material; before he left, Fuchs sat down with two boxes of joke cards from the Sam Levenson collection and read through them. An exciting piece about the Archives, complete with large color photos, appeared in the June 6, 2005, New York Times.
