News | January 15, 2011

Allen New Director of CalRBS

Dr. Susan M. Allen Named Director of California Rare Book School

The California Rare Book School (CalRBS), a project of the Department of Information Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) at UCLA, has announced the appointment of Susan Macall Allen to the position of Director of the California Rare Book School (CalRBS), commencing March 7, 2011.  She will succeed Dr. Beverly Lynch, CalRBS’s Founding Director.  Dr. Allen is currently Associate Director and Chief Librarian for Development and Collaborative Initiatives at the Getty Research Institute (GRI), an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Dr. Allen was Chief Librarian of the Research Library at the Getty from 1999 to 2009.  It was during this period that she became involved in CalRBS, first as a member of the Advisory Committee and then as a faculty member.  Between 2006 and 2010 she taught “Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship,” “Donors & Libraries,” and “History of the Book, 200-1820.”  Previously she was head of the Department of Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA; and director of Libraries and Media Services at Kalamazoo College from 1993 to 1997.  Prior to 1993, she held several posts in the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges, including head of Special Collections.

Dr. Allen was chair of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Standing Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations.  She also served on the Council of the Bibliographical Society of America; the board of the American Printing History Association; and the Board of Visitors and Governors of St. John’s College.  Currently she serves on the boards of The Book Club of California and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles and on the Steering Committee of the California Preservation Program.  She has spoken often and published extensively on undergraduate use of rare books and manuscripts, the future of research libraries, history of the book topics, rare book theft, and library security.  She has taught regularly at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia as well as at CalRBS.

Dr. Allen received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; a further master’s from St. John’s College; and her Ph.D. from UCLA.  

Dr. Lynch is Professor of Information Studies at UCLA.  Under her leadership, the California Rare Book School took shape and offered courses for the first time in August 2005.  CalRBS is a continuing education program dedicated to providing the knowledge and skills required by professionals working in all aspects of the rare book community, as well as for students interested in entering the field.  Lynch established an Advisory Committee for the school composed of recognized leaders in research libraries, rare books and manuscript collections (aka “special collections”), and in the antiquarian bookselling community.  Courses at CalRBS are taught by faculty who are both established scholars and experienced teachers.  CalRBS courses directly benefit from a wealth of special collections of rare books, manuscripts, and archival materials in the Los Angeles area.  

CalRBS operates with the support of the Ahmanson Foundation, the Council on Library & Information Resources, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Getty Foundation, The Book Club of California, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library & Center for 17th-and-18th Century Studies, and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles.         

The UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (GSE&IS) includes two departments - the Department of Education and the Department of Information Studies. Together, the two departments embody the school's commitment to understand and improve educational practice and policy, information policy and information systems in a diverse society. GSE&IS’s academic programs bring together faculties and students committed to expanding the range of knowledge in education, information science and associated disciplines. Its professional programs seek to develop librarians, teachers, administrators and information professionals within the enriched context of a research university.

Shaena Engle, engle@gseis.ucla.edu                                                                      310/206-5951