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Past, present, and future of the Astronomy Library at UC Berkeley

Dehler, Nicholas

Publisher
Zenodo
DOI
10.5281/zenodo.17749527
Repository
zenodo.org
Language
en

Abstract

In January 2024, the UC Berkeley Physics-Astronomy Library merged with the Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Library to form the Chemistry, Astronomy & Physics Library, consolidating the University Library's active print collections in astronomy, chemistry, and physics into one location. The 2024 merger marked the third time the Astronomy Library was relocated within the UC Berkeley Library system: beginning as a departmental library in the Astronomy building, the collection was absorbed by the Astronomy/Mathematics/Statistics Library, then moved to the Physics-Astronomy Library, located in the Physics building, prior to its current iteration. Changes in the physical and spatial organization of subject libraries on campus have altered the relationships between subject librarians and the students, faculty, and research staff in their liaison departments. In this talk, I provide a history of astronomy libraries at UC Berkeley and the role of subject libraries in the physical sciences on campus from the mid-20th century to the present; discuss the Library's approach to retention, storage, and deselection of the physical collections in physics and astronomy; and describe ongoing outreach to faculty and students in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy related to the library merger. -----

Full text

Past, present & future of the UC Berkeley Astronomy Library Nicholas Dehler Chemical & Physical Sciences Librarian November 2025  LISA 10  Santiago, Chile Astronomy at UC Berkeley 1888: opening of Lick Observatory Mt. Hamilton) 1900: formation of Department of Astronomy on University of California campus in Berkeley 1952 UC reorganized into system of semi-autonomous campuses 2 Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton Source: Copley Library, University of San Diego The Conservatory [and Observatory Hill], University of California. Source: UC Berkeley Library Astronomy at UC Berkeley 1958: opening of Radio Astronomy Laboratory at Hat Creek 1959: opening of Campbell Hall 1965 Studentsʼ Observatory moves off campus 2015: opening of “newˮ Campbell Hall 3 Ansel Adams, Hat Creek Radio Astronomy Station - 85 foot antennae, 1964. Copyright by The Regents of the University of California. Source: The Bancroft Library “Campbell Hallˮ by James Lin is licensed under CC BYSA 4.0 From departmental collection to subject library “By 1932 there were 71 departmental collections at Berkeley. Those containing over 1,000 volumes included : … astronomy 1,467, … physics 2,402.ˮ Peterson 1968, 284 1948 Astronomy Department Library becomes a branch of the General Library, “under the supervision of the Science Reference Service.ˮ (CU News 3, no.37, 23 September 1948 1950 UC Berkeley astronomy collection is estimated at 5,190 volumes between the branch library 1,700) and the main library 3,490 (CU News 5, no.2, 11 January 1950 4 1959 Astronomy-Mathematics-Statistics Library formed in Campbell Hall CU News 14, no.15, 16 April 1959. Available here CU News 14, no.31, 6 August 1959. Available here 5 1971 Astronomy/Mathematics/Statistics Library moves to Evans Hall CU News 26, no.26, 30 June 1971. Available here 6 20042008 Physics-Astronomy Library merged in LeConte Hall CU News 64, no.5 10 April 2008. Available here 7 Screen capture of Physics-Astronomy Library website, 3 December 2013, via the Wayback Machine. 202325 subject library mergers 8 “UC Berkeley announces long-term space plan for the Library,ˮ UC Berkeley Library, 23 February 2023. https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/news/space-plan-announc ement Transfer, storage, deselection Simplified review criteria Monographs: - transferred if published or circulated within 8 years, otherwise stored or withdrawn Serials: - transferred if active, heavily used on-site, or of historic value; otherwise stored or withdrawn Withdrawals: - RLFs operate under non-duplication policy for persistent circulating collections - Duplicate copies of items therefore ineligible for storage in most cases Review completed by sciences libraries staff following criteria established by selector and division head 9