The Sacking of The Hoover Library

Carlos Lopez told those interested in the Carlist movement to go to the Hoover Library to consult the Diario de Navarra. I remarked: "Following an administrative upheaval, Hoover is now restricted to archival material- The books and periodicals have been transferred to Green Library, and presumably the Diario de Navarra to which Carlos refers is there".

Distinguished Hoover archivist emeritus Ed Jajko remarks: "The second sentence is not entirely accurate. While I was still on the Hoover curatorial staff, we were directed to divide the library collection; books, serials, newspapers,in half. It remains the job of the curators to determine which half should go to the Stanford University Libraries and which should be retained by the Hoover.

To the best of my knowledge, the only cataloged materials from the Hoover library that have so far been physically transferred to SUL are the former East Asian Collection, which consisted of Chinese and Japanese materials. Some are in the new East Asia quarters in Meyer Library, while the rest; which used to be located in the EAC stacks at the Hoover, are now in a storage library. Uncataloged materials from the Hoover Tower have also been transferred to SUL, since the Hoover now has archival catalogers only. These included the uncataloged Middle East backlog, which was transferred last summer. I have been told that more recently the 13th floor of the Hoover Tower, which had long been used for storage of unprocessed materials, was emptied and the contents transferred to SUL.

Over the next couple of years, materials from the Tower should be transferred to SUL. But not the entire contents, unless there is a wholesale abandonment of agreements. A crying shame, this whole business. A great library destroyed".

RH:
I share Ed's feelings. I knew President Hoover, and I have been associated with the Hoover Library far longer than anyone else at Stanford. I first visited it and wrote about it in 1938 when it was just a collection of boxes in a storage room in the main library. I remember the dedication of the Hoover Tower in 1941, and I was a member of the small committee which established its division of labor between it and the main library.

While there were small problems, the system functioned beautifully. Leaving things to the decision of various curators ia an invitation to chaos. I have been told that the serials have already been transferred, but I have not had occasion to check on the Diario de Navarra. I donated a roomful of research materials to Hoover, and I believe it is to remain there. The only consolation in all of this is that the Associate Director for Library and Archives, Elena Danielson, is a cultured woman and a delight to deal with. God bless her.