UC Berkeley Library

Last week in Haviland Hall, supporters and friends of the UC Berkeley Library gathered for a closer look at one of the campus’s most distinctive spaces: the Social Research Library.

With its redwood views and thoughtful additions such as puzzles, board games, and snacks, the space has been reimagined to meet students where they are — while supporting both their work and their well-being. 🌲🧩🍪

We’re grateful to the supporters who help bring spaces like this to life, now and for the future. 💙💛

📖 Read more about the event and this unique student space: ucberk.li/legacy-circle-2026

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” 🌝🫶🐻🌻
Poet and counterculture icon Allen Ginsberg — a Cal alum — was born 100 years ago today.

Ginsberg is best known for his wild and groundbreaking collection “Howl and Other Poems,” a defining work of LGBTQ+ and Beat literature.

Ginsberg finished “Howl” while living in Berkeley, where he had enrolled as a graduate student at UC Berkeley.

Upon its release, the book, written from the perspective of a gay man, courted controversy for its frank portrayal of homosexuality. City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti and bookstore manager Shigeyoshi “Shig” Murao were arrested, and “Howl” became the subject of an obscenity trial.

In 1957, in a landmark victory for free speech, a judge deemed the masterpiece not obscene. “An author should be … allowed to express his thoughts and ideas in his own words,” he wrote.

The poet was a lifelong supporter of free expression. He was also an advocate for peaceful protest, coining the term “flower power” to describe the hopeful strain of nonviolent resistance that blossomed in the 1960s. In the photo below, Ginsberg is pictured in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for the 1967 Human Be-In, a prologue to the Summer of Love.

Despite his outsized literary stature, he lived a modest and spiritual life, buying clothing secondhand and practicing Buddhism.

His radical individualism has inspired poets, artists, and admirers everywhere to live their truths. 🏳️‍🌈🌎💙

The Bancroft Library holds copies from the first and second printings of “Howl,” transcripts of the obscenity trial, and letters from — and photos of — Ginsberg.
_____

📸: The Bancroft Library’s Michelle Vignes Photograph Archive, BANC PIC 2003.108--NEG, Box 5, Roll 411, Frame 26. © The Regents of the University of California. This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

“Art is one of the last forms of freedom of speech. And we don’t want to lose it.” 🕊️

In 2017, gentrification forced artist Mildred Howard out of Berkeley, the city where she was raised.

Now, at 80, Howard is getting her flowers — in a big way. 💐

Last year, she was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her first major museum retrospective, “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” opens at the Oakland Museum of California on Friday, June 12.

The Bancroft Library has recently acquired her archive, offering a never-before-seen look at the ideas, inspiration, methods, and memories of “a beautiful artist,” said Christine Hult-Lewis, Bancroft’s curator of pictorial collections.

Chances are, you’ve seen Howard’s work.

There’s the large disk-shaped sculpture near the Ashby BART station, a tribute to her mother, who led the fight against the plan for an aboveground BART track in the largely African American neighborhood of South Berkeley. “She said ‘No Berlin Wall in Berkeley,’” Howard recalled.

In San Francisco’s Hunters Point neighborhood, pedestrians can walk through her giant, ornate picture frame.

And her houses made of bottles draw inspiration from Southern folklore while conjuring ideas of division, justice, and freedom.

Howard’s archive — spanning her 50-plus years as an artist — will be open to anyone who wants to see it, preserved for future generations in the city that shaped her.

“There are so many stories behind so many pieces of paper,” Howard said.

Learn more about Howard’s life and art, as revealed through her archive. 🔍
🔗 ucberk.li/howard-archive

🏳️‍⚧️🐻 ”Pride is the art of being yourself.” 🫶🏳️‍🌈
UC Berkeley is home to many LGBTQ+ landmarks, including:

🪩 The site of Cal’s first gay dance

⚧️ A center supporting trans + nonbinary students

🕊️ A serene AIDS memorial (a perfect place to study or reflect)

🦖 Museums founded by a trailblazer

Discover more places of pride. 🔍🗺️
🔗 ucberk.li/lgbtq-landmarks

P.S. Happy Pride Month. Thank you for being exactly who you are! 🌈🫶

“It almost felt like he had dropped in from another century.” 🫶
— Alice Waters, Chez Panisse founder

Graphic artist and printmaker David Lance Goines was born on this day in 1945.

Goines attended UC Berkeley, pursuing a degree in classics before he was expelled for his involvement in the Free Speech Movement, which swept across the campus in 1964.

In 1965, he started apprenticing at the Berkeley Free Press, in North Berkeley. A few years later, he bought the print shop, turning it into Saint Hieronymus Press.

Across his career, he captured the bold and bohemian spirit of Berkeley in two dimensions. Among his iconic works are posters for Cody’s Books, The North Face, and Chez Panisse.

Hannah Hoffman, Goines’ niece, summarized her uncle’s priorities succinctly: “Be kind. Work hard. Create something beautiful.”

Goines died in Berkeley in 2023 at age 77. His legacy lives on at UC Berkeley.

The Bancroft Library recently acquired his archive. The collection comprises nearly 5,000 objects formerly housed at his studio — from posters to printing blocks, correspondence to childhood drawings.

Learn more about the archive, which shines light on the life, work, and vision of a local legend. 🔍
🔗 ucberk.li/goines
_____

📸: Karen Frances Berkeley Engineering
🎨: The Bancroft Library’s Weininger collection of Goines posters and memorabilia, BANC MSS 2001/148 2003.145--C

🐻🎶 You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life! 🎶🏳️‍🌈
UC Berkeley’s first openly gay dance took place on this day in 1970. 🪩

The event was billed as the “Peoples’ Dance” and drew more than a thousand people to Pauley Ballroom. The dress code? Anything from “dirty Levis to full suits or drag.” 👖💅

Among the invited guests? Ronald Reagan.

Leading up to the dance, thrown by the Gay Student Union, a KQED reporter asked the governor about the gathering.

“I haven’t been invited yet,” Reagan quipped.

In response, the group printed 100 invitation letters, to be circulated on Sproul Plaza for people to sign and send to the governor and first lady in Sacramento.

In the end, the Reagans were no-shows. (Perhaps their invites got lost in the mail.)

Today, a spirit of inclusion lives on at UC Berkeley, home to a vibrant LGBTQ+ community of students, staff, and scholars. 🏳️‍🌈🐻🏳️‍⚧️

Want to explore more LGBTQ+ landmarks on campus? 🦖🔍
🔗 ucberk.li/lgbtq-landmarks

We’ll always have Berkeley. 🏛️🐻💐🫶

Class of 2026 — you did it! 🎓

You taught us so much while you were here. 🙏

You showed us that Bears can be fierce but kind. 🧸

And that challenges are just new opportunities to grow. 🌱

Rigor and resilience? You’ve got both. 💪

Let’s face it: You make learning look good. 💅

Now you’re graduates of the No. 1 public university in the country! (UCLA? More like Who-CLA.) 🥇

Take a bow — you’ve earned it! 🙇🏻

P.S. Once a Bear, always a Bear. Don’t be a stranger! 🐻💙💛

You light up our lives! 🐻🏛☀️🫶

This year, you filled our spaces, found knowledge in our stacks, and grew with us.

Thank you for making this year unforgettable — and for letting the Library be part of your story.

Here’s to the chapters that lie ahead! 📖

What’s your favorite Library memory? 💙⤵️

P.S. Moffitt Library returns in the fall. We can't wait to welcome you! 🎉

Dreaming about reading for pleasure again? We’ve got you covered. 📚😎

The UC Berkeley Summer Reading List offers 20 books hand‑selected by the Cal community, and themed around curiosity, care, and connection.

Here are 3 highlights:

🌳 “The Serviceberry” — Robin Wall Kimmerer
Reflections on reciprocity, abundance, and living in relationship with the natural world.

📖 “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” — Becky Chambers
A hopeful sci‑fi story about building community across worlds.

🌍 “Migrations” — Charlotte McConaghy
A gripping tale of loss, interdependence, and finding your way together.

Whether you’re finishing finals or looking ahead to summer, there’s something here for you.

🔗 Explore the full list: ucberk.li/summer-reading

Looking for a heavenly place to study? ☁️🪽

UC Berkeley has an abundant array of locations to meet your earthly needs — day and night.

During finals week, Doe Library and the Main (Gardner) Stacks are open 24 hours a day!

🕰️ Library locations + hours: ucberk.li/hours
🔍 Research help: ucberk.li/research-help