I’m honored to return to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library as its new Head Librarian. My focus is clear. I am already working on supporting new programs, improving infrastructure, and expanding research services to help position the Clark not only as a site for premier scholarship and musical performance, but as a space for experimentation, innovation, and public-facing research.
My relationship with the Clark began as a graduate student in a course on the history of the antiquarian book trade, taught by then-Head Librarian and future mentor, Bruce Whiteman. That experience shaped my career in special collections and led to my first position here at the Clark as a student assistant while pursuing my MLIS at UCLA. Returning now in this role is deeply meaningful and a homecoming in various ways.
In a strange twist, I’ve found myself living back in Santa Monica, not far from where I lived when I was working at the Clark all those years ago (on a lease handed over to me by Bruce nonetheless) but now with my wife Carolina, a digital archivist, and our 15-month-old son, Rio Valentino, who is already developing a love for books—especially ones about dinosaurs, farm animals, and, to my delight, ghosts. The Clark resident storyteller and raconteur, Scott Jacobs (who hired me and whose recently announced retirement I’ll oversee), assures me that the Clark is haunted and should host enough neighborhood phantoms to amuse my son for years to come.
A native of Southern California, I began working in libraries at the fairly young age of fourteen as a library page at the Irvine Heritage Public Library. Since then, I’ve held positions at a great number of local institutions, most notably at the Getty Research Institute, where I oversaw digitization on everything from Los Angeles Case Study homes to the photo albums of Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as UC Irvine, where I taught regularly with and grew quite fond of the Hanratty First Folio. And most recently, I served as Rare Books Librarian at USC, building strengths in the collection on the history of science, the Enlightenment, and the occult, and in the instruction program, where I cultivated a robust stable of embedded classes taught exclusively in special collections. But none of these places have held the same fondness that I do for the Clark and, perhaps, that the Clark has held for me.
I’ve still remained in touch with a surprising number of the staff who have carried on in the time since I left. And many of them still remember me by my curious French name I was assigned (based on what was popular in France in the 80s): Fabrice, or Fab. A lot of things from my time at the Clark have stayed with me. I was lucky enough to have had a chance to curate an exhibit, The Invisible World Revealed (2010), where I examined witchcraft and magic in the context of early modern print culture. Now, fifteen years later, my most recent exhibit, Spectral Science, exploring early optical science, illusion and stage magic, and séance culture will be closing at the end of next month in the Doheny Library’s Treasure Room. The themes and topics I explored through the Clark’s collections in that first exhibit burrowed deep inside and never left.
And as the Clark approaches its 100th anniversary, I’m excited to help guide it into a new chapter, as I truly believe the Clark is a rare and remarkable place—one that inspires curiosity, reflection, and a sense of wonder. My goal is to build on that spirit by expanding exhibitions, shaping a bold and distinctive vision for our collections (and one distinctive from other prominent institutions in the area), and make it easier for students and scholars to engage directly with the collections. There’s something lovely about working here, whether as staff or researcher. Those who pass through are changed, and become, as many refer to us, Clarkees. I’m committed to making sure more people get to experience that—whether for research, teaching, or simply the joy of discovery.
–Derek Quezada Meneses, Head Librarian