Susan Allen / The Getty Research Library, on April 12th at WVRC
DICK ROBINSON started us off with the Pledge. LENNY FRIEDMAN and PP JIM DOWNIE took us along on America the Beautiful, and JIM’S wonderful keyboard really added background and zip to our rendition. PP DON NELSON gave us a Thought for the Day, written by Linda Ellis shortly after the death of her Grandmother in 1996. “I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of his friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning to the end. He noted that first came her date of birth…but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth … For it matters now how much we own – the cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash … Are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down long enough to consider what’s true and real and always try to understand the way other people feel … and be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before. If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So, when your eulogy’s been read with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?”
Don, I have to tell you that’s about as good an Invocation as I’ve ever heard. Thanks.
We had two Visiting Rotarians. Joe Mulryan is from LA 5, and is in Mining. He is also related to our LENORE! Maggie Bludau is from the San Jose Club and is in Commercial Real Estate. We had another guest, Jeannette Kesterson, who was with RICK CULLEN. SEEMA PATEL, our Rotaract President, and VP Katia Vaisberg were present, and they spoke about their coming visit to Casa Hogar Sien Orphanage, in Tijuana. This will be on Saturday, May 5th – and it’s a long day, but should be very rewarding. The bus will pick them up at 0515 for the trip. The cost is $25, which covers the bus and one meal, and they expect to be back in LA about 7 pm. While at the Orphanage, they will read to the kids, deliver whatever supplies they have been able to gather, and generally help around the grounds. In a couple of weeks, SEEMA and Katia will return with items the Rotaract students have produced, which they will auction off to us at WVRC. This is their major fundraiser for the event. Eight from Rotaract have signed up, and they need a total of 15 participants. Again, it’s a great idea, and you can reach SEMMA at (909) 964-5306.
Other upcoming events include the District Conference which starts on April 26th at the Bahia Resort in San Diego. PEGGY tells me the following have signed up – SHARON & CHRIS BRADFORD, SHIRLEY & PETER MORE, PAT & PDG ANDY ANDERSON, ROZ & PP DON NELSON, MARGIE & PP JIM DOWNIE, JOY & YOE, PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, ANN SAMSON, and Prexy MIKE GINTZ. May I ask all of you to let me know – for sure – if you will be stopping off at the SINGLETON’S on the way home on the 29th?
Our Rotary Auxiliary will be visiting the Gene Autry Museum on Tuesday, March 8th. The bus will be waiting at the home of CLARK and AUDREY McQUAY, 15019 Altata in the Palisades at 10am. You’ll be back about 2:30 to 3pm. The cost is $15 which includes the bus, admission to the Museum and lunch (sounds like a bargain to YOE). MARGIE DOWNIE will take your reservation.
For The Good of the Order – (my editorial entry)
I have found a useful source of information. It is the Charity Rating Guide, published by the American Institute of Philanthropy. To receive a copy, write them at P.O. Box 578460, Chicago, IL 60657or www.charitywatch.org.
This section closed with Prexy MIKE asking some of the newer members to name parts of the Four Way Test. Those who answered correctly include BARRY MARLIN, PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, and JACK HARRIS who got to name them all!) Be warned – you may be called on next, so study up!
There were two jokes (intentional, that is).
A Mafia Don was dying, and asked for his young nephew to come to him The Don handed his nephew a shiny 38 pistol, but the nephew said he’d rather have a Rolex. The Don replied, rather sharply, “After you are married, and you come home one night to find another man with your wife, would you rather have this pistol, or would you prefer to just give him the time of day?” Here’s a paradox (we like to introduce these long words – I think it means confusing) What is the ingredient that stands out in these comparisons? The Japanese eat no fat, and the American eat lots of fat. The Mexicans eat lots of red meat, and so do the Americans. The Italians drink lots of red wine, and the Americans drink just a little. AND, the Germans eat greasy sausages and huge lunches, while the Americans try to stay away from such rich food. Yet the Americans are the ones that have the poor dietary results. ANSWER – It don’t matter what you eat – it’s SPEAKING ENGLISH that does you in!
SUSAN ALLEN was our Speaker – and I thought you should have some background on Susan, as we do with most of our Speakers. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a further master’s from St. John’s College in New Mexico, and her Ph.D in Library and Information Science from UCLA. Her subject is Toward an International Art Library: the Growth of the Research Library (known as the GRI) at the Getty.
The GRI is one of four programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The other programs are the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation. From the beginning, the GRI was to develop a research program in art history, and a library would support its work. The Museum opened in 1954 in Malibu, and later was added the replica of a Roman villa (now called the Getty Villa) in front of the ranch house. The library collection started with 2,000 volumes, and by the early 1970’s the collection had grown to 14,000 volumes. Mr. Getty died in 1976, with the collection increasing to 21,000 by 1979, when a professional staff was brought aboard. By 1981 it had grown to more than 30,000 volumes, with a staff of seven. The photo archive of 100,000 photographs by then had a staff of six. By 1983 when the library was moved from the museum to the GRI’s quarters in a bank building in Santa Monica, another 35,000 volumes were added. This began the process of buying entire scholar’s libraries, so in 1984, 90,000 volumes were added, plus 125,000 volumes in 1985, and a record 160,000 in 1986, bringing the total to 505,000 volumes. The library staff had increased to 47 and the photo archive was up to 28. Today there are over 125 total staff, who report to Susan – Collection Development, Conservation and Preservation, Research Services, Special Collections and Visual Resources, Technical Services, and Research Databases. There are now 900,000 volumes in the general library, 60,000 rare books, 2 million photographs, 16,000 prints and drawings, all of which are housed in 9,300 linear feet of accessible storage.
The Getty Center opened in 1997, and Susan was appointed the first associate director and chief librarian of the Research Library in 1999. As you may know, the Getty Center was designed by Richard Meier. The Research Library occupies the better part of three levels of one building, with 30% of the general library accommodated in open stacks. The remaining 70%, including rare materials, is housed in secure vaults equipped with twenty-six miles of shelving, specially designed with earthquake mediation bars.
It is no longer practical to purchase entire libraries, because there is too much duplication. An average of 16,000 titles are added each year, however. Scholars from many colleges and universities in the area come to the library simply to use periodicals. The special collections, holdings of rare, often unique, primary materials, make the Research Library Distinctive. The print collection includes substantial resources to study artists and their worlds, including the history of reproductive printmaking from the sixteenth century onward. Visual resources abound. The Photo Study Collection has 2 million photographs, covering the classical period through the twentieth century. Now that the Getty Villa in Malibu has reopened, a small, 20,000-volume branch library collection is available to staff.
The GRI awards twenty to thirty Library Research Grants each year to provide short-term support to scholars and students at all levels, and is intended for researchers who live outside of the Southern California region. Currently there are about 5,000 registered readers, plus an additional five hundred Getty Center staff members use the library on a regular basis.
There was time for a couple of questions, with MARK BLOCK, YOE, and CURT SMITH speaking up. Susan, we thank you for an excellent report on an area mostly unknown to most of us.
—YOE, Ernie Wolfe
