Monday, December 7, 1998
URL renamed for former chancellor Young
BOOKS: UCLA Medal recipient honored for expansion of library
By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Contributor
Confusion concerning the name of the research library was
resolved Sunday when the University Research Library (URL) was
redesignated as the Charles E. Young Research Library (YRL) in
honor of the former chancellor.
The facility – the largest of UCLA’s campus-wide system of 14
libraries – opened in 1964. With Young’s support, an extension to
the library was opened in 1971.
"During Young’s term, the research library grew to rank second
after Harvard in North America," said Gloria Werner, university
librarian.
While the vast collections of the YRL serve the needs of
faculty, undergraduates and graduate students, the building also
houses the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library and the Henry J.
Bruman Maps and Government Information Library.
"The research library is a central and critical factor on
campus," Werner said.
"(Young) was always supportive of the library – and the URL
never had a name," she said.
The number of volumes in the library during Young’s tenure, grew
from 2 million in 1969 to 7 million in 1997.
In 1968 Young, at age 36, became the youngest chancellor in the
history of the University of California.
During his term, UCLA saw the first development of ARPANET in
1969. This system then evolved into the Internet. The first
computer system that produced book labels and lists of serial
numbers was also installed in the research library during that same
year.
Young retired in 1997, after 29 years as UCLA’s highest
administrator, establishing himself as the longest-serving
chancellor in the nation.
Future plans for the YRL include the construction of a new East
Asian Pavilion, an expanded Department of Special Collections, and
a new graduate and faculty reading room overlooking the Franklin D.
Murphy Sculpture Garden.
In addition to the renaming, Chancellor Albert Carnesale
presented Young with the UCLA medal, UCLA’s highest accolade, in
recognition of his accomplishments at UCLA. Carnesale compared
Young’s achievements to a wheel, the hub of the wheel being the
University Research Library.
"During Young’s last year as chancellor, many tributes were made
to honor his legacy," Carnesale said.
Circle Drive, the street that encloses the campus, was renamed
Charles E. Young Drive in September. The Grand Salon in Kerckhoff
Hall was also renamed the Charles E. Young Grand Salon in June,
1997.
"None of the honors (attached to UCLA) have moved me as much as
this," said Young.
"No honor connected with the university could be greater than
with the renaming of University Research Library," Young said. "If
the College of Letters and Science is the heart of the university,
then the library is its soul."
CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin
Chancellor Carnesale awards the UCLA Medal to former chancellor
Charles Young on Sunday. The University Research Library was also
renamed after Young at the ceremony.
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