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Fresno State catalogues its one-millionth book

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By Shirley Melikian Armbruster

The Henry Madden Library will confirm its status as a major academic library when it adds its one-millionth volume this month. The library will celebrate the milestone and display the volume at a ceremony at noon on Sept. 14 near its front entrance.

The millionth book, "Relación histórica de la vida y apostólicas tareas del Venerable Padre Fray Junípero Serra," is a biography of Father Junípero Serra, written in Spanish by Francisco Palóu, his close friend and fellow cleric.

Printed in 1787, it is the first printing of the first biography ever published of Father Serra, the founder of the California mission system. An engraved portrait of Father Serra is included as well as a fold-out map tracing Father Serra's travels in both Alta California and the new California.

The Madden Library is the sixth largest in the 23-campus California State University system and the only major research library between Sacramento and Northridge. The 1 million volumes consist of approximately 700,000 books and 300,000 volumes of bound periodicals.

The library is known for its wealth of resources ­ especially about Central California ­ of particular interest to researchers. In fact, officials of the new University of California at Merced have requested that its library be linked to Madden Library to provide research materials for UC faculty and students. Negotiations are under way.

Another part of the millionth volume celebration is the Madden Library's "First Friday" events throughout the fall. All will be held at 1 p.m. and are open to the public and free. They are as follows:

• Oct. 5, Library South Lawn. Local musicians will provide a musical interlude with a variety of selections.
• Nov. 2, Library Conference Room 1209. Fresno Bee movie critic Donald Munro will explore the transition of books to film with examples of successful and not-so-successful attempts. 
• Dec. 7, Library Conference Room 1209. Angelica Carpenter, curator of the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature in the Madden Library, will discuss the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.

In addition, contests for Fresno State students revolving around the theme of "1 million" will be held each month.

Michael Gorman, Fresno State's dean of library services, said the millionth volume is a significant milestone for a library that started out 90 years ago in support of teacher training at the newly established Fresno State Normal School.

By the end of that first academic year, the library had 432 books. In 1914, the first librarian was hired, and within 10 years, the collection had grown to more than 10,000 volumes.

It was during Henry Miller Madden's long tenure as University Librarian (1949-1979) that the library's collection began to expand appreciably both in size and depth.

Back to University Journal, 9/10/01 Issue