January 29, 1996 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408/459-2495)
GRANT FROM LONG FOUNDATION EXPANDS PACIFIC RIM COLLECTION AT UC SANTA CRUZ LIBRARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA CRUZ, CA--A $50,000 gift from the J. M. Long Foundation to the University Library at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will be used to update and expand the library's collection of Pacific Rim materials. With the expansion, the UCSC Library collection will offer an outstanding resource to faculty, students, and the local community in a burgeoning field of study.
Over the past decade the Pacific Rim has drawn the attention of scholars in such diverse disciplines as economics, environmental studies, and theater arts. The regioncomprising countries ringing the Pacific Ocean from the U.S. to China and Canada to New Guinea has evolved into an interdependent region through such forces as immigration, economic trade, cultural exchange, and shared environmental concerns.
"Geopolitical changes in the '80s have shifted the focus of scholars from more narrowly defined areas of studies to an emphasis on the Pacific Rim as a whole," explains University Librarian Allan Dyson. "With the help of the J. M. Long Foundation, the library can provide UCSC students and faculty with the print and electronic information resources they need to understand the diverse cultures and economies of the Pacific Rim and to appreciate their unique impact upon the citizens of California. UCSC's Pacific Rim collection can serve as a primary resource for researchers and community members from the entire central California coast."
The proceeds from the endowment will make possible the permanent purchase of an estimated 50 serial publications, including many requested by faculty researchers; newspapers in vernacular languages; other regional newspapers and newsletters; publications from private organizations; selected foreign and international documents; transcripts of conference proceedings; economic working papers; and electronic journals.
The J. M. Long Foundation is a charitable organization founded in 1966 by Joseph M. Long, the late co-founder of Longs Drug Stores. The foundation provides grants for organizations involved in health care, medical research, education, wildlife conservation, and land preservation.
The foundation has a long history of providing support to UCSC. In 1978, the campus opened the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratorya research facility funded by the Long Foundation. The foundation's support of the University Library dates back to the campus's early years when founding chancellor Dean McHenry and Joseph Long discovered a shared interest in the Pacific region. Their farsighted interest led to the establishment of the original Pacific Rim collection (then called the South Pacific collection) between 1970 and 1972.
At UCSC, more than two dozen faculty are actively engaged in Pacific Rim studies in disciplines including history, art history, medical anthropology, international economics, ethnomusicology, theater, literature, politics, ecology, and colonial studies.
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