Collection and Program Highlights

Selection from Dictys Cretensis' Ephemeris belli Troiani (P.Tebt. II 268, 3rd Century CE). Before the discovery of this papyrus, the work was known only in Latin. Courtesy of the Tebtunis Papyri Center

• The Tebtunis Papyri Center was officially established as an Organized Research Program by the University. Part of The Bancroft Library, The Tebtunis Papyri consist of the papyrus documents that were found in the winter of 1899-1900 at the site of ancient Tebtunis, Egypt. The expedition to Tebtunis, led by the British archaeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt, was financed for the University of California by Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst. This is the largest collection in the U. S. of papyrus documents from a single site.
• The Marian E. Koshland Biosciences and Natural Resources Library's Entomology collections benefitted from a generous gift from Drs. Maurice J. and Catherine A. Tauber in memory of their former colleague and professor, Dr. Kenneth S. Hagen. It will be used be used to purchase books in insect systematics.
• Robert Pinsky, U. S. Poet Laureate from 1997-2000 read his poetry in the Morrison Library at noon on February 7 as part of the Lunch Poems Series, on the first Thursday of each month during the academic year.
• With the largest map collection in northern California, the Earth Science and Map Library hosted its reinstituted annual map sale in November, as a way of clearing out outdated or duplicate maps. With hundreds turning out for the sale, the library decided to keep the annual sale concept this year, having waited 5 years since the last such sale. Watch for the next sale in Fall, 2002.
• The Astronomy/Mathematics/ Statistics Library continued to benefit in 2001 from the generosity of Emeritus Professor William Craig who established the Endowment Fund for Maintaining Strength in Logic and Related Areas in 1992. Referred to simply as the Logic Fund, the endowment income provides regular support for books and materials for study and research in the field of Logic.
• The Bancroft Library recently benefited from the contributions of the papers and archives of the late Art Hoppe, long-time columnist of the San Francisco Chronicle. More information about this remarkable archive will be available once the processing and cataloguing begins later this year.
• The annual University Library survey of Library card-holders as of August, 2001, yielded a total of nearly 57,000 patrons. This includes over 47,000 UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students with Library cards. It's easy to understand why book and material conservation is so important to keep the collections available for growing numbers of patrons.
• The renovation of the Fong Optometry Library is finally complete, providing new and vastly improved facilities for patrons and students. The library celebrated with an open house on January 18. Drop by the third floor of Minor Hall to see the new space if you're ever using the Optometry Clinic services.
• The UC Berkeley Art Museum on Bancroft Way will be exhibiting Ansel Adams photographs from February 12 through March 31 in the lower level public gallery space. The title of the exhibition is: Ansel Adams in the University Collections: A Photographer at Work. The exhibition is curated by Jack von Euw, Curator of The Bancroft Library Pictorial Collections. The materials in the exhibition are drawn primarily from a number of UC Berkeley collections, including The Bancroft Library Pictorial Collection, the University Archives, and the Berkeley Art Museum.

Ansel Adams in Juneau, Alaska, 1947. Photo by J. Malcolm Greany