Library Head Named at Huntington

David Z. Zeidberg, head of special collections at the university research library at UCLA, was appointed director of the Huntington Library in San Marino on Friday.

Zeidberg succeeds the late William A. Moffett to become the seventh person to head the prestigious Huntington Library since 1915, when Henry Huntington appointed the first librarian to oversee his growing collection of rare books and manuscripts.

“From the perspective of all the research libraries in the area, Zeidberg’s appointment will be praised,” said Robert F. Erburu, chairman of Times Mirror Co. and of the Huntington’s board of trustees. “David’s knowledge of area facilities will enable him to facilitate cooperative library efforts.”

Zeidberg, whose appointment will become effective March 1, will be the first person to hold the library’s newly endowed R. Stanton and Ernestine Avery chair.

As director of the Department of Special Collections at UCLA since 1984, Zeidberg has been responsible for six library divisions. Before assuming those duties, he served as curator of special collections at the Gelman Library at George Washington University.

A graduate of Windham College in Putney, Vt., Zeidberg received his master’s degree in library and information science from Syracuse University in 1975.

“David Zeidberg, I believe, will be best able to maintain the traditions of the research collections while simultaneously modernizing their management and scholarly accessibility,” said the Huntington’s president, Robert Allen Skotheim. “He will work effectively with the five other principal officers of the institution to secure the financial foundations of all the segments of Mr. Huntington’s legacy.”