President's Letter, September 2008

Inspiration from Change

Over the next few weeks I will meet all of the new students who are entering UCLA’s MLIS, PhD, and Moving Image Archival Studies (MIAS) Programs. I will be introduced to these students in lab orientations and technology workshops which I organize, and these students will have come from a variety of backgrounds with diverse life experiences – some will have arrived fresh from their undergraduate studies, and others will have chosen to pursue graduate study because they seek a career change. What binds all of these students together is their desire to move forward, and to change their lives. I am always inspired by these students as they eagerly look towards the future regardless of the economic or the political climate. They come to our program embracing, however nervously, the choices they have made. Their enthusiasm makes this sometimes jaded, middle-aged librarian look at his own future with fresh eyes.

Every fall, as the new students arrive, I am reminded of a dear friend who passed away in the summer of 2007, and who also was an inspiration to me. Jamie MacInnis and I worked together at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner’s Editorial Library for a number of years under Ann Sausedo whose own death in 2007 was a time of reflection for me. Jamie came to the Her-Ex from a harried family life and had attempted many times to complete her studies at Santa Monica College (SMC). In 1989 when I left the Her-Ex to enter UCLA Graduate School of Library & Information Science, Jamie’s high level of work made her an indispensable asset to the library, but the newspaper was to fold within two months. Jamie remained behind with a small staff as they prepared the library’s files for donation to the L.A. Public Library. Once her work was finished at the Her-Ex, Jamie focused on completing her Associate’s Degree at Santa Monica College. As her studies at SMC ended, she entered Cal State Fullerton, where she graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics in 1994. I sat proudly in Titan Stadium with my very pregnant wife as Jamie received her degree. And a few years later, Jamie graduated with her Masters degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Jamie went on to be a librarian with the University of Missouri, Rolla, and, in what would be her final professional position, she was the Library Director at the Art Institute of California’s San Francisco campus. When I received my MLS degree, Jamie had a high school diploma. Yet she embraced the change that was thrust upon her and went from an A.A. degree, to a B.A., to an MSLS degree, and, finally, to a library director position.

I am always inspired when I remember Jamie’s professional path, and as I see new students come to the LIS program at UCLA. Jamie taught me about perseverance, and the students continually teach me to look towards the future with eager eyes.

Here’s to the people who inspire you!

Sincerely,

David Cappoli
dcappoli@ucla.edu

Note: Jamie passed away in the summer of 2007 along with another colleague from our Herald-Examiner days, Library Director Ann Sausedo. Jamie lives on though as the Art Institute of California's San Francisco campus library is now named the Jamie A. MacInnis Memorial Library.