Local News in Brief : Irvine : Window Will Honor UCI’s First Librarian
A memorial window honoring the late John Edwin Smith, UC Irvine’s first librarian, will be dedicated at the university’s library at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Smith, who died in 1986, was UCI’s librarian from the university’s founding in 1964 until he retired in 1979.
“During his tenure, he built the library into a community as well as a university resource,” said Beth Bauer, a spokeswoman for the university. She noted that Smith helped found the UCI Friends of the Library in 1964.
The window in his honor was donated to UCI by the Friends of the Library, the UCI Retirees and Emeriti Assn. and by the University Library.
Fashioned by Laguna Beach artist Eddie Joe Martin, the memorial window is 6 feet tall by 3 feet wide and has the word Word etched into its border in 60 languages. Among the languages are Egyptian hieroglyphics, Sanskrit and Braille.
UCI Chancellor Jack Peltason will preside at the dedication ceremonies, and other speakers will include Everett Daly, president of Friends of the Library. The dedication is to be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
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