Introduction
The Humanities at the University of Tennessee Libraries enjoy unique advantages, thanks to the continuing generosity of donors committed to enhancing the Libraries' collections. Humanities Subject Librarians are entrusted with responsibility for the management of several endowment funds and for selection of important and useful library materials in accordance with
the terms of the endowment bequests. The Libraries' Collection Development & Management (CDM) Department produces monthly reports of endowment fund encumbrances and expenditures. An annual report of endowment expenditures is also prepared by CDM and distributed as needed. Overall management of the humanities endowment funds is the responsibility of the Libraries'
Humanities Coordinator.
The following serves as a brief overview of the humanities endowments at UT Libraries and provides guidelines for the management of the endowments. These guidelines are reviewed periodically to respond to the changing needs of the collections.
Humanities Subject Librarians have access to funds generated by the following general humanities endowments:
The Humanities Coordinator receives and manages requests and authorizes orders placed against these funds. The orders are tracked by subject areas. Priority is given to collection development projects developed by individual subject librarians.
Created by Dr. Kenneth Curry in 1966 and significantly augmented by his
estate in 2000, the Kenneth Curry Endowment Fund "shall be expended for
materials (books and manuscripts) purchased for the Library, University of
Tennessee, Knoxville; these materials to be in the field of the humanities,
specifically, English and American Literature, the arts (music and
art/architecture), philosophy, classics and history." Approximately half of the
endowment proceeds are expended each year on interdisciplinary humanities research
material that is purchased by the Libraries through serial standing orders. The
remainder of the fund is used to purchase material requested by humanities
faculty and librarians. The Humanities Coordinator manages the purchases from this fund.
The Lindsay Young Endowment was established in 1989 by Lindsay Young "for special acquisitions that will make a qualitative difference in the collection of the Libraries" in the humanities.
Nominations for the Lindsay Young
Endowment Fund are gathered from humanities faculty and librarians each spring semester, when an announcement and nomination form are distributed to every humanities faculty member. Research sets over $500 are eligible; the endowment does not fund subscriptions. Selections for purchase are finalized from the nominations by a committee of humanities teaching faculty and humanities librarians and sent to the Dean of Libraries and the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences for approval. To ensure balanced acquisitions, every humanities teaching department and interdisciplinary program is encouraged to submit nominations. The
Humanities Coordinator, in conjunction with the Libraries' Collection Development & Management Department, is responsible for managing the Lindsay Young fund.
This endowment was established in 1982 "to purchase library materials for the humanities." In some years, a rotating schedule has been followed to allow each subject area to enhance its collection. Since Fall 2005, in response to an increasing demand by humanities faculty from an array of disciplines for media materials, the Humanities Subject Librarians have been using Davis Endowment funds to purchase media in a variety of formats for the Libraries' Media Collection. The Humanities Coordinator is responsible for managaing the Davis fund.
Established in 1977, the United Foods Humanities Library Endowment is
designated for "purchases in addition to those made from the normal library
allocation of the humanities area. No funds which otherwise would have gone to
the humanities will be directed elsewhere because of the creation of this new
source of income." Priority is given to well-defined, single or multi-year
humanities collection enhancement projects. Humanities Subject Librarians are
encouraged to submit a brief written plan that outlines the need for the project,
action plan, timetable, expected results and benefits, nature and extent of
faculty and departmental liaison, and anticipated expenditures. As smaller
general endowments are expended during the fiscal year, other humanities
requests may also be submitted to United Foods. The
Humanities Coordinator is
responsible for the management of the United Foods Fund.
In addition to the general humanities endowments, subject-specific endowment funds are available for some subjects. These funds are administered by the appropriate subject librarians. In the case of smaller funds, subject librarians may choose to allow the interest to accumulate over
the course of more than one year to allow for more flexibility in spending.
Created June 13, 2000
General Humanities
Endowments
Kenneth Curry Endowment
Lindsay Young Endowment
Richard Beale Davis Endowment
United Foods Endowment
Subject-Specific Endowments
Revised August 14, 2006
