“Where would I have been without the Fine Arts and the Architecture Libraries at UCLA as an undergrad and then at UC Berkeley as a grad student? I found my way to the study of urban history (at these public universities) through art and architecture. How could I possibly begin to understand the deeply layered and nuanced history of anything without acknowledging the roles the Fine Arts have played for millennia and will continue to play in the unfolding of political, economic, cultural, religious, and every other aspect of our lives. Opening books, real honest to god books, enriches everything. Anyone who takes the time to think about education knows that.”
As an undergraduate at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign, I lived across the street from the library. Whenever it was open, I was either in the English library or in class. As a graduate student there doing my dissertation, I had an understanding with the librarian, I could simply lay my pen down on the table where I was surrounded by my books. She knew I would be back to work as soon as possible. Reading and writing was my life for seven years and seven months, and the habit took root for me for the next 36 years at Florida State University. For people teaching the next generations in the Humanities, reading and writing are our lives’ work. We cannot succeed without the great libraries like the University of Texas’ Perry-Castaneda Library. Dr. Castaneda lived on my street until her unfortunate demise, but she shared with me how her husband deserved to have his name on that great library. I have used other libraries on the campus and couldn’t do my research without them.
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