Allen Endowment

Linda Di Biase, Collection Development

In 1988, Paul Allen made possible the Kenneth S. Allen Library Endowment through his gift in honor of his late father, a former associate director of the UW Libraries. Each year, a portion of the Allen Endowment is designated to "augment and enhance library holdings and provide the margin of excellence between a good collection and an outstanding one."

In the two years since the first award was made, the endowment has made possible a number of acquisitions in support of a wide variety of disciplines.

Major purchases made possible by the Allen Endowment include:

• a digitized sky survey.
• microform reproductions of the papers of the NAACP, the Nixon White House, and all U.S. executive branch documents of the 18th and 19th centuries.
• 3,100 topographic maps of the former Soviet Union.
• an electronic database concerned with alternative and traditional medicine.
• additional print and media sources for cinema studies and ancient art history.

Endowment awards may cover the cost of staff, equipment, cataloging tapes, or other tools necessary to facilitate access and use of the materials. The awards are made in a consultative process among subject librarians, Libraries administrators and faculty . Final authority in use of the Endowment rests with the director of libraries.