Pepperdine University Libraries Records, 1937-2013

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Summary

Abstract:
The collection contains materials produced by or about Pepperdine libraries between 1937 and 2013. The libraries represented are the George Pepperdine College Library (Los Angeles campus); Payson Library and the School of Law library (Malibu campus); and the Orange County Center library. Items include correspondence and memos, subject files, photographs, library newsletters, annual reports, and audiocassettes.
Extent:
7.3 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
Language:
English and Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pepperdine University Libraries records, Collection no. 0076, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains primarily correspondence, printed material, and photographs produced by or about the Pepperdine libraries. The libraries represented are the George Pepperdine College Library (on the Los Angeles Campus); Payson Library and the School of Law library (on the Malibu campus); and the Orange County Center library. Items in the collection include correspondence and memos to and from library staff, subject files, administrative files, multiple newsletters written for distribution to students and library stakeholders, annual reports, and audiocassette recordings of librarian meetings. Materials range in date from 1937 to 2013.

Biographical / historical:

When George Pepperdine College opened in the fall of 1937, there was no library building and no librarian. The registrar, J. Herman Campbell, purchased the initial order of books, which faculty chose by selecting titles from Charles Shaw's A List of Books for College Libraries. The basement of the President's home on campus served as a staging area for library book processing, and two rooms in the administration building served as the library for the first school year, 1937-1938.

Marian Wright was the first librarian at George Pepperdine College during the school year 1937-1938. After resigning in June, 1938, she was replaced by David Otis Kelley. Kelley stayed from 1938 until approximately 1945, when his duties as Librarian were temporarily taken over by other campus library staff including Pearl Ward and Marian Pedigo. Robert Broadus was the librarian from approximately 1947 to 1953. A library building was eventually built on the Los Angeles campus, and the library staff published their own newsletter to broadcast information to faculty and students (the George Pepperdine College Library Bulletin, and later Views and Previews From Your George Pepperdine College Library).

Other staff at various times included Harold Holland (as a librarian in the 1950s, and as Library Director from 1981 to 1989), Dorothy W. Moore (a librarian and eventual Library Director), Terry Leung (a librarian), Robert (Bob) Sanders (an archivist), Herbert (Herb) Gore (an archivist), and James Smythe (an archivist). As of 2013, the current Dean of Libraries is Mark Roosa.

A library at the Pepperdine University campus in Malibu (Payson Library) was dedicated on October 15, 1972, in the fall of the first year students came to the Malibu campus. There are also other libraries on campus in Malibu, libraries on satellite campuses, and libraries at study abroad locations.

Acquisition information:
Materials were gathered from University Archives files.
Processing information:

The collection was arranged and described by Jamie Henricks in February, 2013. Photographs were added to the collection by Kelsey Knox in July, 2015.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following five series:

Series 1: Correspondence Series 2: Subject Files Series 3: Bulletins and Newsletters Series 4: Annual Reports Series 5: Audiocassettes Series 6: Photographs

Physical location:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pepperdine University Libraries records, Collection no. 0076, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Location of this collection:
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4786, US
Contact:
(310) 506-4323
specialcollections@pepperdine.edu
Website