Special Non-Endowment Foundation Funds

The Friends of the CSUN Library Fund is committed to supporting our CSUN students, faculty, and community. Each year, our Friends help the Library acquire new books, purchase new equipment, sponsor the annual Special Collections and Archives exhibit, provide student scholarships, and sponsor significant cultural events.

The Los Angeles Jewish Federation Community Relations Committee (CRC) archives are one of the most highly consulted archives used in the University Library, sought out by researchers, national and international visiting scholars, and CSUN faculty and students. The CRC’s work from the post-World War II period to the present day represents one of Los Angeles’ most dramatic periods of growth. The organization’s work over these years focused on myriad issues, including denazification in Germany, displaced persons and refugee communities in Los Angeles, religion in public schools, communism, civil rights, housing discrimination, fair employment practices, race relations, stereotyping in the motion picture industry, and more. Your donation to this fund will support the processing and digitization of large parts of this collection which are not yet available to the public.

This vital fund guarantees our CSUN students will have the knowledge they need to excel in their courses and into their careers. Library collection development librarians work with faculty to select the most significant databases, journals, and books to prepare students for success.

This fund supports the Old China Hands Archive, the largest archive in the world devoted to the preservation of historical documents and oral histories related to foreigners living in China before 1950.

This valuable fund provides support for important University Library initiatives and events throughout the year. These selected events focus on relevant topics impacting our students and community, such as programming related to the role of women in civic and community engagement, climate change, First Amendment rights, student scholarships, Black History Month, and much more.

The University Library Makerspace and Innovation Hub will offer an open, collaborative workspace where students can get access to tools, equipment, instruction, and support while working on projects and fostering a growth mindset. This expansion of our popular Creative Maker Studio will offer all CSUN students an opportunity to explore, create, and innovate beyond the traditional classroom environment.

The University Library Map Collection provides students, faculty, staff, and the greater Southern California community with access to thousands of digital and paper resources, including historical maps of Los Angeles, aerial photographs of the San Fernando Valley, and geospatial data. Many of the most significant items in the collection are the result of donations from individuals or were purchased through funds provided by generous alumni and other friends. These donations provide resources to make the Map Collection a vital center of research on the CSUN campus.

Do you have great memories of college, your time at CSUN, or in the University Library? In 2019, the Library awarded 26 scholarships to deserving library student employees, allowing them to focus more on their studies and less on finances. Be a part of a powerful opportunity to change a student’s life by supporting this fund.

The Bradley Center has served CSUN and the Los Angeles Community for many years as the visual storyteller of ethnic and minority communities through the eyes of Los Angeles based photographers. In 2015, the Bradley Center developed an ongoing relationship with the Tom & Ethel Bradley Foundation, and was renamed the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center. Today, the Bradley Center plays an even more important role, housing over one million images documenting the social, cultural, and political lives of the diverse communities of Los Angeles and the Southern California region from 1910 to present. The Bradley Center is funded through private donations. Your support plays a vital role in ensuring that the Bradley Center continues its mission to develop current collections, support student work and projects using original photographic material, and fund community events at CSUN that highlight the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

Started by Larry Kushner, who has also left a generous bequest, this fund recognizes the need for preservation and management of collections of visual imagery artworks and visual communication materials constructed of various types of media. In order to accomplish the above goals there must be individuals available with the necessary professional level education, training and experience to provide services for preserving and managing these collections. To assist in the development of a pool of individuals with the requisite knowledge and skills, the Preservation of Visual Imagery Internship provides a stipend to one graduate student each semester to be trained at the University Library. The Fund is used exclusively to support graduate Internships under this program. Each Internship consists of a 1 semester interdisciplinary work/study program under the supervision of Special Collections and Archives along with the Digital Collections program. The Internship is for the purpose of managing visual imagery collections within the University and acquiring or enhancing existing archival management and technology skills and methods.

The Chitjian family papers comprise primary source documents that tell the story of several generations of an Armenian immigrant family who escaped genocide in Europe over 100 years ago to make a new life for themselves in Southern California. This fund will assist our archivists in processing, digitizing, and maintaining this important collection for future generations of scholars who need to research the Armenian genocide, genocide survivors, and the history of immigrant communities in Southern California.

The California Chapter of the American Planning Association Archives document the history and practice of urban planning in California. This fund supports the cost of processing and maintaining this large and important collection, as well as future exhibits based on these archives.

The Baldwin-Shaffner family papers follow the legacy of several families over many generations in various regions of the United States. The archive is comprised of primary source documents and photographs telling a compelling narrative of these families over the past 400 years. The Baldwin, Sackett, Bishop, and Bacon families, whose ancestors settled in Connecticut in the mid-1600s, migrated to Ohio and Colorado in the mid-1800s, then settled in the Los Angeles area in the 1890s. The records in this collection include clothing and other textiles, books, scrapbooks, correspondence and other personal papers, newspapers and magazines, financial and real estate records, legal documents, photograph albums, photographic prints, ephemera, artifacts, and art. This fund will assist our archivists in processing, digitizing, and maintaining this important collection for future generations of scholars of the history of Southern California as well as scholars of migration patterns moving west over the course of several centuries.

Founded by CSUN faculty member Ron Purcell, the International Guitar Research Archive in the University Library is one of the largest collections of archival material related to the performance of the guitar, including sheet music, books, correspondence, photographs, and other primary source material. This fund supports new acquisitions for the IGRA archive as well as sustaining the cost of maintaining this vast collection.