University of California, Irvine, Langson Library

Variant names

Dates:

Active 1970

Active 1988

Active 1991

Active 1949

Active 1997

Active 1980

Active 1993

Active 1965

History notes:

[Resources] UCI Libraries’ facilities include 350,000 square feet in four locations: Jack Langson Library Science Library Grunigen Medical Library Libraries Gateway Study Center These buildings contain o Over 3,300 public seats o Over 500 public computers The Libraries employ 171 full-time equivalent staff 59 librarians and professionals 100 staff 27 full-time equivalent positions filled by over 202 student employees Annual Expenditures Approximately $20 million [Collections] The UCI Libraries’ electronic and print collection includes approximately: Over 3.9 million volumes Over 1.4 million electronic books 179,742 journals and serials 104,910 government documents 112,703 audio/visual materials, multimedia, maps, photographs, and other graphic materials The Libraries Special Collections preserves 640 archival collections that include over 1 million original documents and photographs [Services] On an annual basis: Librarians answer nearly 12,000 research and reference questions. Librarians provide research instruction to nearly 20,000 individuals. UCI Libraries’ buildings receive over 1.8 million visits (averaging to over 4,900 per day). The Libraries’ website receives nearly 5.4 million virtual visits (averaging to over 15,000 per day). UCI Libraries’ facilities are open 19 hours during a typical day and 111 hours during a typical week. Study centers are open 24 hours per day during finals week.

UC Irvine's Special Collections and Archives (SCA) houses the university’s collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, born-digital files, and other unique materials. Our holdings include university archives, critical theory, performing arts, political literature, and a growing collection of artists’ books. In the Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive (OC&SEAA) Center, we lead a community-focused effort to preserve and catalog our local culture. We welcome students, faculty, independent researchers, and community members to visit us on the fifth floor of Langson Library or in the OC&SEAA Center.

Historical Note

In the 1960s, after preparing the legal groundwork for over a decade, the Irvine Company (Orange County, California) proposed a major land swap with the County of Orange. The proposal was unanimously approved by the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1965. The project, involving an exchange of publicly owned tidelands on the Upper Newport Bay in Orange County for Irvine Company-owned blufflands, was intended to pave the way for the development of a marina, housing developments, and recreational facilities along the Upper Newport Bay shoreline.

Though environmental activism was relatively unknown at the time, the plan quickly met with resistance from local residents. Several grassroots environmental groups were formed and in 1967 the Friends of the Newport Bay (FONB), the most vocal and instrumental group, held its first meeting. Local Newport Beach residents J. Frank and Frances Robinson were instrumental in forming FONB. The subsequent interest and reporting by local and state media raised public awareness and directed attention to controversial elements of the transaction.

In 1969, as a result of this new awareness, six Newport Beach residents, led by the Robinsons, filed as intervenors in a friendly lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the trade, halt the project, and reverse the decisions made by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The ongoing suits and their media coverage resulted in increasing public demand for the retention of Upper Newport Bay land for public usage. Through a combination of political and legal actions the land exchange was canceled in 1971. In 1974 the idea for the Upper Bay Reserve plan won federal approval and in 1975, ten years after the initial land exchange proposal, the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve was dedicated.

Chronology

1965 Formal agreement is signed between Orange County and Irvine Co. for the exchange of privately held bluff lands for publicly held tide lands in order to facilitate residential development of Upper Newport Bay. 1967 State Lands Commission gives its endorsement to land exchange. 1967 Friends of Newport Bay is formed. 1969 Exchange is first tested in court. Frances and Frank Robinson and four other Newport Beach homeowners file as intervenors. 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill raises public awareness about environmental issues. 1970 Retention of Upper Newport Bay for public park is urged. 1971 New Board of Supervisors votes to cancel the Upper Newport Bay land exchange agreement between Orange County and the Irvine Company. 1973 Upper Bay land trade is held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of California. 1973 Irvine Company decides not to appeal ruling, thus effectively giving up on its earlier development plans, and in addition, agrees to sell its bluff lands for a wildlife preserve. 1974 Plans for a preserve in the Upper Bay win federal approval. 1975 Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve is dedicated.

From the guide to the Collection on Upper Newport Bay, circa 1949-1997, (University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.)