Past, present, and future of the Astronomy Library at UC Berkeley

In January 2024, the UC Berkeley Physics-Astronomy Library merged with the Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Library to form the Chemistry, Astronomy & Physics Library, consolidating the University Library's active print collections in astronomy, chemistry, and physics into one location. The 2024 merger marked the third time the Astronomy Library was relocated within the UC Berkeley Library system: beginning as a departmental library in the Astronomy building, the collection was absorbed by the Astronomy/Mathematics/Statistics Library, then moved to the Physics-Astronomy Library, located in the Physics building, prior to its current iteration. Changes in the physical and spatial organization of subject libraries on campus have altered the relationships between subject librarians and the students, faculty, and research staff in their liaison departments. In this talk, I provide a history of astronomy libraries at UC Berkeley and the role of subject libraries in the physical sciences on campus from the mid-20th century to the present; discuss the Library's approach to retention, storage, and deselection of the physical collections in physics and astronomy; and describe ongoing outreach to faculty and students in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy related to the library merger. -----