Can We Save Our Past on Paper?
"Great Paper Debate" Between Noted Library Critic and Archivist May 16 at Simmons College

Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science Celebrates Alumni Day

BOSTON (May 1, 2001) — Whether and how the nation’s libraries can save the past on paper will be the subject of a spirited debate between a controversial novelist and library critic and a noted archivist on Wed., May 16, at Simmons College.

Renowned novelist Nicholson Baker--who has garnered national attention for his critique of some libraries’ practice of destroying books to relegate their contents to microfilm--and University of Pittsburgh Archives Professor Richard Cox will engage in "The Great Paper Debate" May 16 at 10 a.m. at the Simmons Main Campus Building, Rm. C-103, 300 the Fenway, Boston. The debate will be the highlight of Alumni Day for the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The event is open to the public; registration fee, including lunch, is $35 per person and $15 per student. To register before the deadline on May 10, contact the Simmons College Office of Alumnae/i Relations at 617-521-2321.

Baker brought libraries widespread public attention in 1994 when he decried the destruction of card catalogues in The New Yorker magazine and earned himself the enduring enmity of many librarians. He is now crusading for the preservation of original newspapers and books, instead of their being relegated solely to microfilm. Baker’s newest book, Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, was published in April and received national attention in a recent New York Times feature profile. In the book, Baker said that libraries around the country, including the Library of Congress, destroyed at least 975,000 books worth $39 million from 1968 to 1984. Cox, who has written extensively on professional issues in archives and records management, recently countered Baker’s latest criticisms in First Monday, the peer-reviewed Internet journal. He will offer a critique of Baker’s position at the 10 a.m. Simmons keynote address.

The Simmons GSLIS alumni day will include presentation of the Alumni Achievement Award to Charles Robinson, a 1951 GSLIS graduate and former director of the Baltimore County Public Library.

CONTACT

Katie Fiermonti
617-521-2369

See Also

Simmons Graduate School of Library & Information Science

 

 

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