The Oregon Institute of Technology Library on the Klamath Falls campus unveiled The Arbur Fantasy & Science Fiction Collection and reading room on Thursday, March 8, 2012 to a small crowd gathered to see the collection and meet the donor.
The Arbur Fantasy & Science Fiction Collection consists of approximately 2000 mostly paperback books and was donated by Rosemarie Arbur, Ph.D. The collection is housed on the first floor of the Oregon Tech Library in Room 110. Oregon Tech Library Interim Director Karen Kunz was instrumental in making the collection available to patrons and designating a special space for the collection.
The collection consists of diverse works in science fiction and fantasy, representing some of the best writers from the twentieth century; from the pioneers in the science fiction genre including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury to more modern writers such as Ursula Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, and Brian Aldiss.
Larry Powers, Dean of the College of Health, Arts and Sciences at Oregon Tech, attended the unveiling of the collection. Powers commented on the importance of reading science fiction, “At a technical university, we sometimes forget that the human mind is not just a microprocessor of facts and formulas. It is when the mind is allowed to speculate, to say what if… that is when the mind becomes the creative portal. The Arbur collection represents diverse facets of speculative fiction. May it help users open those portals, stimulate imaginations, and encourage the creative juices to flow.”
Arbur taught American literature, feminism, and science-fiction and fantasy courses at Lehigh University from 1972 until becoming a professor emerita of English in 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Nazareth College in 1966, a Master of Arts from the University of Illinois in 1967, and a Ph.D. from the same university in 1972.
Her major contributions to science fiction and fantasy are critical essays and bibliographies on the major women writers of these genres: Leigh Brackett, Ursula K. Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, and Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Arbur believes that part of the enduring popularity of science fiction can be attributed to the human desire to explore “the other” and the “what if” of our mysterious universe.
She has also contributed to the Oregon Tech Library’s American literature and feminism collections, deposited elsewhere in the library.
Rosemarie Arbur and her husband currently live in Klamath Falls, having moved from the 40-acre ranch near Bonanza to which they retired in 1999.
About Oregon Tech
Founded in Klamath Falls in 1947, Oregon Institute of Technology is one of seven institutions in the Oregon University System, and the only public institute of technology in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon Tech provides degree programs in engineering and health technologies, management, communications and applied sciences that prepare students to be effective participants in their professional, public and international communities through hands-on learning. Oregon Tech’s main campus is in Klamath Falls; other sites are located in Portland, Salem, La Grande and Seattle. Oregon Tech will consolidate its campuses in the Portland area to a larger facility in Wilsonville in Fall 2012. Visit www.oit.edu to learn more about Oregon Institute of Technology.
