Ethnic Studies Library Transition

In 1969, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) at Berkeley instituted a student fee to support the new programs that made up the Ethnic Studies Department. Historically, each program gave the majority of those funds to maintain its own small library, apart from African American Studies which became its own department in 1970. From the 1970s to the early 1990s, The Chicano Studies Library, the Asian American Studies Library, and the Native American Studies Library occupied spaces in Wheeler Hall. In the early 90s, the university administration asked the Ethnic Studies Department to consider moving the three libraries to Stephens Hall in order to create more classroom space in Wheeler Hall.

The three library teams met to discuss how the new space in Stephens Hall could be used. They came to an agreement that each library would be transformed into a distinctive collection within a larger single library structure, creating the Chicano Studies Collection, the Asian American Studies Collection and the Native American Studies Collection as well as a new Comparative Ethnic Studies Collection. Maintaining the separate identities and histories of each former library was important. While all the collections are housed within the same space, the Chicano Studies Collection is still classified using its own system, the Chicano Classification System. All staff members were retained with each formerly independent librarian now in charge of their own collection. While the libraries were not allocated as much library space as they initially hoped for, additional on campus storage space allowed for equal space provision between each of the collections and room for them to grow. Then Ethnic Studies Chair, Elaine Kim, decided the name of the combined libraries would be “The Ethnic Studies Library.” Lillian Castillo-Speed became Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library and on July 18th, 1997, with speeches from the Ethnic Studies faculty and other administrators, the Ethnic Studies Library opened its doors to the public.