Dear University of Washington Board of Regents, President Cauce, and Provost Richards:

We write to express our grave concern about the recent decision by the Dean of University of Washington Libraries to significantly downgrade the UW Tateuchi East Asia Library (Tateuchi EAL), effectively crippling the library that has provided excellent services to our communities for over 86 years.

According to the decision (the Libraries Dean has made two versions of announcements: March 6 version was published in Libraries Weekly Online News,which is being implented: March 8 version is currently posted on the Dean's website), 75% of Tateuchi EAL staff will be reassigned to other units of the library system, leaving the Tateuchi EAL with only a director and two circulation staff  (both are currently vacant). We believe that this decision will undermine the library's outstanding services, collections, and capacity for community outreach.

The Tateuchi East Asia Library is not only an indispensable resource for students, faculty, and researchers interested in East Asian studies, but also a cultural treasure and nexus of local Asian-American communities. It is widely recognized as one of the premier East Asian libraries in North America, attracting outstanding faculty and students to UW. It supports numerous educational institutions, including community colleges and K-12 schools in the Pacific Northwest. It offers rich community outreach programs, such as the oral history project of immigrants from China, Taiwan and other parts of the world who are living in the greater Seattle area; the Korean book talks with the Korean community; and many Japanese cultural events through our collaborations with the Washin Kai group in Seattle and our exchange program with Keio University Libraries in Japan, among many others. These outreach programs have drawn large numbers of citizens to campus. Moreover, Tateuchi EAL serves as a home away from home for many international students and visiting scholars from Asia.

The library has maintained high efficiency in its operations. One of many testaments to its efficiency is its recent elimination of a decades-old cataloging backlog of over 80,000 volumes in the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Tibetan languages through projects funded mostly by community donations, making those invaluable collections accessible to users worldwide.

We are concerned by the Libraries administration's decision to downgrade the library and troubled by the manner by which it was done. This consequential decision was made suddenly and unilaterally without warning, explanation, or consultation with East Asian studies faculty, users, and donors, or with the Tateuchi EAL staff whose jobs are affected.

We believe that the decision to disperse the Tateuchi EAL staff is not based on sound business or budget grounds. Instead, it will cause a loss of synergy and collective strength, and degrade services. It will contradict the wishes of numerous donors who have generously supported the library in recent years, and antagonize local Asian communities that use and support the Tateuchi East Asia Library. It will represent a loss for faculty, students, and the off-campus communities who rely on the library for their research, teaching, and cultural needs.

We urge the university leadership to request a reconsideration of this drastic, ill-conceived, and precipitous downgrading. The Tateuchi East Asia Library is a cultural treasure of Washington State and a critical part of the university's mission to foster knowledge and diversity.  It should be strengthened, not dismantled.

By signing this petition you reject UW Libraries Dean's decision to disperse/centralize the staff of Tateuchi East Asia Library at University of Washington and support keeping TEAL intact as an institution.

Please kindly include: Name - Major/Department (if any) - Location (if comfortable)

Thank you for your support!

More information and updates please check Friends of UW Tateuchi East Asia Library