USC Plans Library Expansion Drive

The University of Southern California Wednesday announced plans for a $55-million fund-raising effort to expand and improve the campus library system.

The J. Paul Getty Trust has already pledged $5 million and the Times Mirror Foundation $1 million to the expansion project, the university said. USC President James Zumberge said the university’s goal is to raise another $49 million “to build a system of libraries that can support our scientists and scholars, and those from around the world who come here to study.”

Charles Ritcheson, dean of the university’s 11-branch library system, said the school hopes to “take advantage of the enormous possibilities of the new electronic technology in the storage, retrieval and dissemination of knowledge.”

Plans for the development of the library system include:

- The installation of electronic systems that would link the USC libraries with each other and with research libraries around the world.

- Acquisition of $10 million worth of new books and journals over the next five years.

- Renovation of USC’s 50-year-old Doheny Memorial Library to provide climate control for the preservation of materials and to provide better use of space for students and faculty.

- Construction of an addition to the Doheny Library or of an adjunct facility.

- Acquisition of additional storage space for library collections.

The USC libraries, which contain 2.3 million volumes, are in the top third in size among 101 university libraries ranked by the Assn. of Research Libraries.

Getty attended USC in 1909 and received an honorary bachelor of laws degree from the school in 1976. The J. Paul Getty Trust is a foundation that focuses its efforts on the humanities. Times Mirror Foundation is the corporation foundation of Times Mirror, parent company of the Los Angeles Times.