UCLA Program Cuts

* As an alumna and librarian I was appalled to learn of UCLA’s decision to close the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (“UCLA Plans to Cut, Combine Costly Programs,” June 4). For those who think such a move can be justified I suggest the following: Go to a library of your choice and try to find information on any three topics without consulting any of the library’s catalogues, indexes, or reference librarians. That simple exercise should make it clear that these tools and the expertise of trained information specialists are the key to the efficient use of the increasing body of information our nation produces and uses. Librarians were among the first to recognize the power of the computer, adapting their expertise to the opportunities of new technology. Today in libraries across this country, trained librarians, using specialized data bases, can give instant access to critical scientific, medical and business information.

As society has become increasingly divided between the information rich and the information poor, public librarians have reacted by establishing adult literacy programs, homework centers and story hours and reading incentive programs for children.

The organization of library collections and the various catalogues and indexes that give access to them and the skill to use these tools require specialized graduate-level training. As the “information highway” approaches, we are about to be overwhelmed by choices. How can we travel down that highway and take advantage of its opportunities without the maps, guidebooks, signs and personal guidance provided by trained information specialists? The UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science has a strong faculty, a flexible and innovative program and an excellent reputation in its field. Given these strengths and the increasing demands for information management skills, Chancellor Charles Young should reconsider his decision to close the school and find his budget cuts elsewhere.

ELEANOR K. MacDONALD

Beverly Hills

* So, UCLA is going to shut down undergraduate nursing, the Graduate School of Library Science and the urban planning graduate program. Not law, medicine or dentistry. Thanks a lot, Chancellor Young.

You have just told three sets of people who dedicate themselves to serving the public two things. That you are not immune to the pressure of special interests; and what UC really stands for--upper crust.

BECKY C. DAVIS

Van Nuys