President’s Message: Opening Our Doors More Widely

Rather than emphasize Readers’ educational credentials and letters of reference, we shifted our focus to the collections themselves and whether they would be suitable for the project proposed by a prospective Reader. We strive to provide researchers with access to the materials they require whenever we can, balancing that goal with a duty of care for the materials’ long-term preservation, donor restrictions, and concerns regarding privacy and intellectual property. Those like Larry Gordon who are over 18 and have a justified need to use our collections can now gain access for their research without unnecessary hurdles. And although we charge admission to visit The Huntington’s expansive gardens and galleries, the rare materials in our research library continue to be provided to Readers for free. As Sandy noted, these changes, along with our increased virtual services, have greatly expanded our readership. Library staff members report that they are now responding to 40% more reference queries than in the recent past, as well as providing substantially more virtual document consultations. We offer virtual access to library materials for those unable to travel to The Huntington and when the materials are so fragile that they are restricted to being handled only by special collections librarians.

As a former president of a liberal arts college and now someone with the honor of serving as president of one of the premier cultural institutions in the world, I understand the wisdom of demonstrating that a change reinforces, rather than subverts, past institutional principles. So, I was particularly intrigued when the chair of our Board of Trustees, Greg Pieschala, pointed out to me that our revised, less stringent academic requirements for Readers are actually more, rather than less, consistent with the research goals expressed in our historical documents. The 1926 “supplemental trust indenture” to Henry E. Huntington’s original 1919 trust document both reinforces the original indenture’s goal—“the Advancement of learning, the arts and sciences,” and the promotion of “the public welfare”—but also includes the following purpose: “to render the books, manuscripts, and other contents available, under suitable regulations and restrictions … to scholars and other persons engaged in research or creative work in history, literature, art, science, and kindred subjects, and to all persons whose qualifications meet the requirements of such rules and regulations.” It is this same document that specifically provides for “Research Associates and Fellows, consisting of scholars of exceptional ability engaged in special study and research in such subjects.”