Friends of the Oviatt Library Spring/Summer 2011 One-of-a-kind Exhibition: Tony Gardner’s Swan Song ome came replace the original Sto view the materials, the sort Library’s rarely of thing that makes seen treasures. up a library’s Special Others came to hear Collections. the keynote speaker, Following Stephen Tabor of Tabor’s thought- the Huntington provoking com­ Library. But many ments the as­ long-time friends sembled dignitaries of the library, those and Library friends truly in the know, repaired to the came to honor the Tseng Family Gal­ Oviatt Library’s lery where, while multi-talented, long- savoring an enticing serving Curator of medley of crudi­ Special Collections, tés, they ogled an Tony Gardner, who eclectic assortment recently announced his retirement, era of printing, he noted, when er­ of unique, rare, one-of-a-kind and to ogle his latest, and perhaps rors were found or changes judged ephemera plus portions of some his last, creation for the Library— necessary, presses were stopped, of the Library’s smaller collections. an exhibit featuring unique gems changes were made, and printing Among the items Gardner opted to from the Library’s archives. But for resumed. But the error-bearing showcase in his ultimate exhibition whatever reason, they came; and pages were not discarded—paper were such singular treasures as: A none left disappointed. was much too precious for such hand-written, eyewitness account Tabor, Curator of Early Printed extravagance—and the result was of the 1881 gunfight between the Books at the Huntington, pro­ books, even from the same print­ Earps and Clantons at the OK vided an appropriate prelude for ing that differed in subtle ways. corral in Tombstone, Arizona, the exhibit by tackling an oft-asked Moreover, type was reset com­ arguably the most famous gunfi ght question: Why should we care pletely after each run, typically of a of the Old West; an 1855 letter by about unusual works—usually few hundred books, at which time abolitionist John Brown in which called Special Collections—tucked it was commonplace to insert new he vowed to continue fi ghting to away in diffi cult-to-access, environ­ materials or modify the original. keep Kansas territory slave-free; a mentally controlled vaults? Why Even more variance resulted from fragment of a Torah scroll (Num­ not digitize them and discard the the common practice of rebind­ bers 2:22-32:13), hand written on often old and fragile originals, thus ing books, sometimes intermixing parchment; a copper-electro print­ freeing precious space and elimi­ pages from diff erent printings. ing plate for Mark Twain’s An Idle nating the need for a special envi­ Online facsimiles or surrogates, Excursion; and a 1755 edition of ronment? Tabor’s response to the Tabor acknowledged, “… can be Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of question he had rhetorically posed tremendously useful and certainly the English Language, in which for was that, “One copy can never convenient, but…only from the the first time he included examples fully represent an edition,” and he early printed versions, with all of each word’s usage drawn from documented this assertion with their imperfections can a researcher works of the Elizabethan Period. example after example of multiple come close to understanding the Also on view were such unex­ copies of a single work that diff ered author’s mind.” Electronic copies pected jewels from minor collec­ significantly in detail. In the early are here to stay, but they can never tions as: Colorful paintings and continued on page 2 ink-on-paper sketches by Haitian math of the Northridge earthquake lution of this uniquely American artists depicting voodoo rituals, when he, flashlight in hand, led art-literature; Wish You Were Here, all a part of the Dolores Yonkers a team into the pitch-black, frac­ an assortment of documents related collection; gorgeous gilded bronze tured library to retrieve rain-soaked to travel from ancient to modern animals, kettles and pots from the books, most of them unique and times; and Now Give Th ree Cheers: Western Zhou-Han period, pieces rare, for delivery to professional The Timeless Magic of Gilbert and from the Tseng Family collection of freeze driers, thus saving them from Sullivan, an assemblage of books, Chinese antiquities; a watercolor, destruction. Then, Curzon said, for scores and ephemera related to the an acrylic-on-canvas painting, six years as the Oviatt Library was comic duo’s life works, all from the and a woodcut print by acclaimed rebuilt, “Tony expended extraor­ newly acquired David Trutt collec­ artist and former tion. CSUN student, As an authority Florence Ferman, on rare collections, all of them from a Gardner has often lesser-known branch been called upon to of Ferman’s larger explain the intellectual and oft displayed process, the histori­ ceramics collec­ cal research and the tion; and a gorgeous intellectual content velvet dress worn of particular exhibits. by American op­ This, said Curzon, “… era soprano Helen he always did with Traubel, its pleats grace and humil­ adorned with steel ity.” Moreover, in his beads and sequins, capacity as archivist, rather incongruently Gardner, said the juxtaposed with the dean, “…was an active avid fi sherwoman’s participant in Faces favorite Centaure of L.A. and in the Los fishing reel (minus Angeles Preservation the pole, which, as Network, entities re­ noted on the accompanying plac­ dinary effort to fully restore the sponsible for preserving documents ard, was too long for the display Special Collections and Archives,” relevant to local history.” Of her case). all while working in portable bun­ soon-to-retire colleague, Curzon Gardner, who is retiring after galows and a plastic library dome. added, “We are going to miss Tony nearly four decades at the Oviatt, Once the rebuilt Library again immensely. Not just because of his has spent the past quarter century opened for business, Gardner incredible knowledge about mat­ as Curator of Special Collections. turned his attention to the hidden ters pertaining to the preservation After earning a BA in History at treasures he loved so much, seek­ of our special collections, but his CSUN, an MLS from UCLA and ing wherever possible to share them unfailing courtesy to our users and an MA in Middle Eastern history with the public. This he accom­ colleagues, his patience, diplomacy from the U of Arizona, Gardner plished through exquisite exhibits, and calmness in the face of any joined the Library staff in 1974 primarily of the Library’s larger issue, his warmth and caring about as catalog librarian. It wasn’t until archives. Most recent among his people, and his reasoned judg­ thirteen years later that he took exhibitions were such eye-catching ment.” Such accolades suggest that over Special Collections on a gems as: The Sun that Lights the Gardner leaves big shoes to be fi lled part-time basis, graduating to his Rainbow, a treasure trove of works and will be diffi cult to replace! full-time overseer position as the about the life and time of Eliza­ Gus and Erika Manders and the collection grew in size and impor­ beth I; The Making of the Book, an Friends of the Library sponsored the recep­ tance. But Gardner’s time at the exhibit depicting the art of hand tion and exhibit. Most items on display helm of Special Collections was not book binding from the time of were donated to the Library, their sources always easy. In a missive announc­ Gutenberg to the present; Celebrat­ indicated on accompanying labels; to those ing the archivist’s retirement, Sue ing Comic Books, a display that donors the Library off ers a special thank Curzon, Library Dean, reminisced drew upon the Library’s collection you, for without them there would be no about Gardner’s role in the after­ of vintage comics to trace the evo­ Special Collections. —jdole 2 Library Student Employees Garner Awards he 10th Annual Student Employee Awards CSU System’s highest awards: the 2010 William R. TCeremony last June saw four students hon­ Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achieve­ ored for their service to the Library. Named ment. The honor is for students who demonstrate Outstanding New Employee was LaTosha King, “superior academic performance, exemplary com­ while Parin Sutaria took the award for Outstand­ munity service, and significant personal achieve­ ing Long-term Employee. Th e Outstanding Library ments.” A secondary education major with plans Support Services honoree was Amy Suddleson, for a teaching credential and a Master’s degree in whereas the Outstanding Patron Service Award went Kinesiology, Samantha has earned a laudable 3.99 to Hoda Firouzian. GPA yet has found time to coach volleyball and For their exemplary service, more than $10,000 basketball at a local park, run PE in scholarships was bestowed on student employees. workshops at elementary schools, Yue He took the Mary Cleary Scholarship for Inter­ and be a university ambassador national Students; Samantha Barton, Angela Bell, and a peer mentor at CSUN. Chamero Mack and James Mansfi eld received the four Lois and Ralph Prator Scholarships; David Morck and Karine Panosian took home the Karin Durán Scholarships; Darline Hannah Predraza Barron won the Friends of the Library Scholar­ ship; Hannah Pedraza and Andy Villalobos Pictured (l-r): LaTosha King, Parin Sutaria, Angela Bell were honored with the Dean Susan Curzon, Amy Suddleson, Hoda Firouzian Ann and Dave Perkins Scholarships; and Hua Yang went away with the Virginia Elwood Scholar­ ship. Said Library Dean, DidDavid MorckM k Sue Curzon, this ceremo­ ny “is one of my favorite events because it gives us a chance to honor our many excellent student Karine Panosian employees who do so Pictured (l-r): Darline Barron, June Frankenberg, Anne Kogen much to make the library run smoothly.