From Colonies to Computers:
Sterling, Beinecke, and the Yale Library System  

Tuesday, February 20 – 2:00 p.m. ET on Zoom

Classmate David Alan Richards, a summa cum laude graduate of Yale ’67, is a retired lawyer and much-published literary, social, and legal historian.

He will present highlights from his latest book, I Give These Books: The History of Yale University Library, 1656-2022, published by Oak Knoll Press. The first published history of the library of one of America’s colonial colleges from its origin through the digital age, with comparisons to its Ivy peers, it examines the Yale library structures, their origins and architecture, the contents of numerous special collections and their origins, and highlights the transformations created by the burgeoning use of electronic technology.

David will survey the Yale Library system’s many and varied special collections, which include those of Shakespeare, Milton, Boswell, Johnson, Franklin, Kipling, Goethe, Eugene O’Neill, the Gutenberg Bible, photographs of Lincoln, the Treaty of Versailles and other diplomatic papers of Yale’s many Secretaries of State, and many more.

He also examines how historic changes in Yale education, both undergraduate and graduate, have caused the Library system to both reflect and drive the evolving needs and opportunities for research, teaching, and learning at Yale.

The transformation of the old Reserve Book Room to the Franke Family Digital Humanities Center, and the current modernization of Linonia and Brothers Room to a wired electronic research center show that books, young and old, will not disappear, but will co-exist with digital files – currently at more than 16 million of each – as the Yale Library system continues to adapt to new technologies.

You will also learn more about how today’s Yale students and faculty can enter the Sterling Library to:

*  Access the Franke Family Digital Humanities Center for cutting-edge research aided by electronic technology.
*  Join in a wide range of training and instruction at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.
*  Use the Borrow Direct interlibrary loan program to gain no-charge access to more than 90 million volumes.
*  Make use of the personal librarian assigned to each student from day one of their Freshman Year.
*  Use the pioneering Lux system to locate resources on a given research topic from any facility anywhere on the Yale campus.

David is active in fundraising on behalf of the Yale Library and is an active participant in the modernization of the Linonia and Brothers room at Sterling Memorial Library.

You will enjoy David’s masterful command of the history of the Yale Library system, from its pre-Yale College days through its ongoing growth as a digital research powerhouse.

Register here and we will send you the Zoom meeting link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the event, and we will re-send the confirmation email again on the morning of the event, so the information will be at the top of your inbox.

You are invited to ask questions during this Talk ’67 event. If you can’t make it to the event, or want to share it, a recording will be available a few days after the Zoom, on Yale67.org.