Schottlaender Bestows Parting Gifts to Advance Geisel Library Revitalization & Special Collections

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Brian Schottlaender, The Audrey Geisel University Librarian, UC San Diego

With his retirement on the horizon, University Librarian Brian Schottlaender has pledged two generous gifts to the UC San Diego Library, one to advance the Geisel Library Revitalization Initiative (GLRI) and another to support the Archive for New Poetry in the Library's Special Collections & Archives.

Between now and the end of the academic year, Schottlaender, who recently announced his plans to retire in June 2017, said he will focus his energies on raising funds for the Geisel Library Revitalization Initiative, a top priority for the Library and the campus. In addition, he has made a planned gift for the GLRI Maintenance Endowment.

The personal papers of Paul Blackburn are included in the UC San Diego Library’s Archive for New Poetry.

“I can’t think of a higher priority for the campus and for our students, especially, than raising the funds we need to revitalize the major interior spaces of this architecturally stunning landmark building,” said Schottlaender. “Our students are among the most academically competitive in the nation. They spend an awful lot of time here, and deserve the most advanced, technology-equipped spaces we can offer, to accelerate their learning and discovery. This is why I made this gift to support the GLRI and why I would encourage others to consider supporting it.”

The Geisel Library Revitalization Initiative (GLRI) was initiated in 2015, after Library patron Audrey Geisel made a generous $3 million gift to reconfigure and revitalize the main (2nd floor) of the university’s flagship building. This launched the campaign to raise additional funds to modernize the interior of the iconic Geisel Library building to more effectively meet the evolving needs of students, faculty, and other Library users. Signifying the importance of the GLRI to the campus, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla has agreed to match all gifts with a $1 million challenge grant, doubling the impact of each gift to the Library.

Ian Hamilton Finlay. "Sea-poppy 1" in Honey by the Water. Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973. Archive for New Poetry, UC San Diego Library Special Collections & Archives.

Schottlaender, an avid collector of modern literature who loves books as much as he loves technology, has also made a gift to establish the Brian E. C. Schottlaender Collection Endowment to support the Library's Archive for New Poetry. The endowment will provide annual support in perpetuity to enhance the collection which is recognized as one of the top collections of American modern and experimental poetry in the post-WWII era. Established in 1968 by UC San Diego Literature Professor Roy Harvey Pearce, the archive comprises more than 30,000 volumes, 1,300 journals, and more than 1,100 poetry broadsides, as well as extensive literary manuscripts and over 1,500 audio recordings, many of which are being digitized for greater access. The collection focuses on the “New American” poets—the Black Mountain poets, the Objectivist Movement, the San Francisco Renaissance movement, the New York School, and the “language writers.” The personal papers of renowned poets such as Paul Blackburn, George Oppen, Charles Reznikoff, Susan Howe, Jackson Mac Low, Lyn Hejinian, and James Schuyler are housed in the archive, along with those of major UC San Diego poets such as Jerome Rothenberg and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rae Armantrout.

Library supporters and friends who wish to honor Brian Schottlaender’s legacy can learn more about the opportunities to pay tribute by clicking here.