Publication Date

Spring 2013

Abstract

A Year to Remember and Celebrate

2013 is the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the founding of our land-grant institution. The Libraries take the land-grant mission very seriously as we preserve and present the history of the Commonwealth through digitization projects and as we offer access to the print collections of the Commonwealth’s largest public academic research library to all residents. 2013 is the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the death of W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois, born in 1868 (only five years after the Emancipation Proclamation), died the day before Martin Luther King gave his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington. 2013 is the kickoff of the UMass Rising Campaign. The Libraries are counting on your support as we move toward our goal of raising $45 million by 2016. Happily, we are already at more than 80% of our goal but we need your help to achieve 100%. 2013 is the 40th anniversary of the opening of the “Tower Library,” renamed the W.E.B. Du Bois Library in 1994. Designed by Edward Durrell Stone, the Du Bois Library still holds the title as the world’s tallest university library. 2013 is the year of many new and exciting services and programs, as you will read on the following pages. The new Digital Media Lab on Floor 3 of the Du Bois Library is an excellent example of how the Libraries can work collaboratively with others on campus to create an innovative modern service for our 21st century students. 2013 is, sadly, the year the Libraries lost a long-time champion – Randolph “Bill” Bromery. Dr. Bromery was instrumental in bringing the Papers of W.E.B. Du Bois to the Libraries and was, until his death, a passionate supporter of the Libraries, the Du Bois Collection, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center. 2013 is a year of celebration and remembrance. If you can celebrate and remember the excellent work you read about in the following pages, your contributions will be greatly appreciated.

Jay Schafer

Director of Libraries

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