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From the Dean of Libraries - Summer 2012

UW and Libraries at 150 years, Husky Reels archive of historic UW sports film and video

As the University of Washington and the Libraries come to a close of their 150th year, I can’t help reflecting on the dramatic changes in technology over the last century and a half.  With each new technological innovation – from manual typewriters to digital scanning and from the codex to electronic books – the Libraries has found new and innovative ways of fulfilling our mandate to preserve information and keep knowledge freely flowing.

From hand-penned manuscripts and letters, to recordings on cassette audio tape, to digitally-born documents, the Libraries preserves human thought, discovery, knowledge, expression and documentation in any and all media that exist or will be created.

One doesn’t often associate the word “sports” with “libraries” – unless, perhaps, you’re a former student athlete like I am.

The Libraries is a house of stories and those stories now include the achievements of Husky teams, coaches, and champions.  The Libraries recently acquired boxes and boxes of historic sports film, video, and antiquated moving image formats for which equipment no longer is made. Our film archives team is ready to "hold the line" on any further deterioration, and restore thousands of hours of priceless footage.

Our depth of experience and expertise allow us to" tackle" this monumental undertaking and reach our "goal line".  Please join the Husky Reels effort to ensure that future generations will revel in our proud sports history.

It’s exciting to imagine the new "plays" the Libraries will design to connect people with knowledge over the next 150 years.  I’m confident that our staff will continue to be at the "top of their game" in making information available to curious minds – in the state of Washington and beyond.

- Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson

Summer 2012