SAA President Peter Hirtle's Letter in Response to the Closing of the
Teachers College Special Collections Department
20 October 2002
Dr. Arthur Levine, President
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th Street
New York, New York 10027
Dear Dr. Levine:
I am writing to express the concern of the officers and members of the
Society of American Archivists over the personnel changes affecting the
operations of the Department of Special Collections housed in Milbank
Memorial Library. The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and
largest professional association of archivists in North America. With
close to 4,000 members, SAA represents archivists in all areas of archival
endeavor from college and university archives to archives departments
within federal and state agencies of government to corporate and institutional
archives to the archives of religious communities, historical societies
and more.
The archival, manuscript, rare book and photographic materials held by
Teachers College Special Collections Department are known nationally and
internationally as preeminent resources in the history of education in
New York and the United States. Researchers depend on these materials
for continuing their own work in the study of educational history, psychology
and policy. The individuals who staff the Special Collections Department
are recognized by their colleagues as dedicated professionals who have
labored long and carefully to ensure that the preservation of and access
to collections conform to strict professional standards. It has been reported
that this staff has been let go and the collections are being accessed
without professional oversight and supervision. We see this to be a terribly
short-sighted move the consequence of which will be the swift physical
and intellectual deterioration of the archives and the ultimate loss of
value of an important institutional asset.
The Society of American Archivists realizes that during times of fiscal
crisis an institution may find it necessary to reorganize the operations
of certain organizational units. Nevertheless, we strongly believe that
the fundamental operations of an archives and special collections, namely
the identification, selection, protection, organization, description,
and delivery of archival records and special collections material, are
best undertaken by specialists in the management of special collections.
At a time when the Association of Research Libraries is reaffirming the
fundamental importance of special collections to libraries, it seems terribly
short-sighted to threaten the management of the archival collections in
your institution by eliminating the role of trained professionals in their
management.
The Society of American Archivists joins with other voices of the archives
and history professions in urging that you reaffirm that the extraordinary
special collections of Teachers College will be properly managed and preserved
for the future through the employment of properly trained professionals
experienced in the management of archives and special collections.
Sincerely,
Peter B. Hirtle
President
cc: Gary Natriello, Interim Director of Milbank Library
James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian,
Columbia University
See also SAA's "Statement Concerning the Closing
of Archives" (1990).
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