Thank you so much to all who were able to attend our 70th anniversary symposium and reception on December 6! We were delighted and inspired by the strong turnout, especially since the weather threw in a last-minute challenge by producing some freezing rain that made for treacherous walking almost exactly at our starting time of 4 PM.
Librarian emeritus Kenji Niki, who came from Japan for the occasion, found the severe cold difficult to bear, but he soldiered through and gave a charming talk. Professor Hitomi Tonomura kicked things off with a fascinating account of the early days of the Center for Japanese Studies and Asia Library. We were also fortunate that Yuan Zhou, curator of the East Asian Collection at the University of Chicago, was able to come and speak about his mentor--and Asia Library's longtime head--Weiying Wan.
The panels of faculty, librarian, and students from each region of East Asia gave us a fascinating glimpse into how Asia Library is used today. Professor Mayumi Oka reminded us of how important language study materials are to producing the scholars who will eventually be able to read the resources in our collection. Professor Juhn Ahn brought an interesting item he found in the Asia Library stacks--so interesting that we had to confiscate it from him after the event because it was too fragile to be openly available! Professor Christian de Pee spoke eloquently about the extremely close ties that exist between the Asia Library and the academic programs it serves.
Thank you again for your support this year. We wish everyone happy holidays and a wonderful New Year.