Harvard Library Gets $5 Million from Arcadia Fund
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 04/10/2009
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- Gift goes to core functions
- UCLA, Yale received the same sum
- First focus: print collections, processing, conservation
After giving $5 million each to libraries at the University of California, Los Angeles and Yale University, the U.K.-based Arcadia Fund has awarded $5 million to the Harvard University Library, aimed to support core functions over five years.
According to a Harvard press release, Library Director Robert Darnton said that the grant initially will support print collections, processing of 17th- and 18th-century collections in the Archives, and underwrite conservation treatments for fragile or damaged material from 17th- and 18th-century collections.
"In providing a high level of flexible, discretionary support for the Harvard Libraries, Arcadia has shown not only extraordinary generosity, but great insight into the complexities facing research libraries today," Darnton stated, noting that, while digital services increase, core collections and services must not be neglected.
Arcadia background
Arcadia, formerly the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund, was established in 2001 by two people with Harvard degrees: Lisbet Rausing PhD '93 and Peter Baldwin PhD '86. Arcadia's key mission is to protect endangered treasures of culture and nature.
Arcadia also supports Harvard's Open Collections Program (OCP), which offers subject-specific, web-accessible collections. One example: Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics. Coming on April 30 is Expeditions and Discoveries: Sponsored Exploration and Scientific Discovery in the Modern Age. A project on the history of reading should go online in the spring of 2010.
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