From Print to Electronic, Private Support Helps Move Libraries Forward

By Denise St.Ours

As every college alumnus can attest, nobody graduates from the library, but nobody graduates without one. That universe of scholarly materials—one in which many late-night hours are spent pouring over books and articles to churn out last-minute term papers—has always been an integral component of academic achievement.

Thanks in part to private support, University Libraries continue to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of Mason’s various communities, not only in the expansion of scholarly materials, but also in the way those materials are accessed. No longer just a repository of books and an area for quiet study, University Libraries have become a virtual place where students, faculty, and the public don’t always have to physically enter one of Mason’s five library buildings to do their research.

“Searching the libraries’ catalogues and databases, reading texts through e-books, or printing an entire journal are now all possible from a computer anywhere in the world,” says John Zenelis, university librarian and associate vice president of information technology. “Students can even ask a librarian a reference question from their dorm room using the University Libraries’ virtual reference service.”

Digitizing History

The demand for digitally accessible materials and resources means that University Libraries now expend as much on electronic resources as book volumes and are continually selectively digitizing portions of their 217 unique archival collections. Private support has enabled the libraries to digitize portions of their special collections, allowing easy access to these important research materials from around the globe through the Internet.

Among the special collections that have benefited from private support is the Planned Community Archives: Catherine A. Baum Digital Collection. Catherine Baum, BS Business Administration ’81, helped the libraries digitize the oral histories, architectural plans, and other documents relating to Reston, Virginia, and similar communities through her generosity.

A long-time resident of Reston, she first became familiar with this planned community on a 1967 high school field trip and later decided to be part of preserving its distinctive history.

Enabling Significant Purchases

The Baum Collection is one of seven named endowments that have been established in the past several years through gifts of $10,000 and above to University Libraries. These endowments have provided a wealth of new print and electronic resources across the disciplines, as well as an opportunity for donors to honor an individual, family, or corporate entity for generations to come.

Owen and Constance Terry, for example, recently established the Michael O. Terry Acquisitions Endowment in memory of their late son, a librarian who was employed by University Libraries. Their endowment will help the libraries acquire resources in areas that reflect their son’s varied interests, including literature, music, environmental science, and Japanese culture.

Back to the Basics

Continuing to be a major source of support for University Libraries are gifts of books, manuscripts, photographs, music, and other relevant scholarly materials. It is through such generosity that the libraries are able to add depth to the research resources available to students, faculty, and the greater community.

The Nan Netherton Papers are among such gifts. The late Nan Netherton, MA History ’89, collaborated with her husband, Ross, in producing several books about Northern Virginia regional history. The collection they established includes research materials related to their publications, such as newspaper and magazine clippings of historical significance, as well as photographs and other graphic illustrations.

“The support we receive through monetary donations and gifts-in-kind from our alumni and friends help to move us forward as the focus of learning and research at Mason,” says Zenelis. “We are appreciative of our donors for continuing to enable transformative change and helping us achieve distinction and greatness for the university.”

Support Through Annual Giving

An increasingly popular way alumni are making annual gifts to University Libraries is through the bookplate program, according to Tammy McBride, BSN ’99 and MS Health Systems Management ’06, university annual giving chair. The bookplate, an original design that follows the tradition of antique copperplate engravings, may be placed in appropriate books for gifts of $50 and above. Bookplate gifts may be given in honor or memory of a loved one and donors may designate their gift to the book fund of their academic unit or interest. McBride notes that such contributions have a personal and lasting effect on the libraries’ collections.

For more information about ways to support University Libraries, visit library.gmu.edu/libinfo/support.html or call Adriana Ercolano at 703-993-3389. To contribute online, visit give.gmu.edu.