0.9 Chapter seven: retrenchment and the struggle for survival, 19  (Page 17/20)

Rochell's frustrations with the situation grew with the passage of time. As a representative of an outside institution being paid consulting fees, his ability to fulfill what he regarded as his duty to protect the library collections was limited. In October 1993, Rochell, with encouragement from some Society board mem­bers, approached the Society with a proposal to forge a more permanent affilia­tion between the two institutions. At the same time, NYU formally requested a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to perform essential work on the N-YHS collections. It was understood that NYU would be able to carry out these tasks only if clear understandings were reached with the Society concerning the definition of the library collection, the allocations of space, and financial and man­agerial responsibility. During November, a memorandum of understanding was negotiated by representatives of both the Society and NYU that outlined terms for an agreement between the two institutions on these issues.

On December 13, 1993, the Mellon Foundation's board of trustees voted to award a conditional grant of $1.25 million to NYU to inventory and catalog the collections at the N-YHS library and to prepare new bibliographic records. This appropriation was unprecedented for the Foundation, whose normal practice is to make substantial grants only in situations where the institutional setting is secure. To safeguard its grant, the Foundation attached a number of conditions:

• The scope and integrity of the N-YHS library collections must be clearly defined and assured. Our assumption is that the library collections are now un­derstood to encompass all materials of national as well as local and regional significance up to 1900. Also, the collections are understood to include prints, photographs (including the Landauer collection), and architectural drawings, as well as books, manuscripts, journals, and documents.
• The library must have sufficient space in the building at 170 Central Park West to allow for storage of collections currently held, the addition of related col­lections now housed at NYU, and a reasonable amount of future growth.
• Financial arrangements must be specified that offer the library a realistic opportunity to function effectively and to achieve and maintain financial equi­librium in its operations for the foreseeable future.
• Responsibility for direction and oversight of the N-YHS library collections must be clearly defined and must rest with an entity that has the requisite professional competence, financial resources, and institutional commitment.

As is customary in the awarding of conditional grants, and at the specific re­quest of representatives of both NYU and the N-YHS, a date was set—February 15, 1994—by which time the conditions would have to be satisfied or the grant would not be awarded. In addition, in the interest of full communication to all interested parties, a letter reporting informally on the action taken by the trustees of the Mellon Foundation was sent to all interested parties, including representa­tives of NYU, the N-YHS, and the New York Public Library.