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END PAGE It's a long way from the green, rolling hills of Clarksburg, West Virginia to the stark urban landscape of Newark. Victor A. Basile made the journey. It took him several years, and along the way he made a few detours to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Milan, Germany, France and even Yugoslavia. But eventually, he arrived ÷ and what a difference his arrival made. Basile came to the Newark campus in March, 1971 as assistant librarian for technical services, and retired this past March as University Librarian/Director of Libraries. His 30-year career at the University was one of extraordinary service to UMDNJ, its students, faculty and researchers. A love of books and
a fascination with science and medicine are driving forces in Basile's
life, and they have taken him Basile was born in Clarksburg in December, 1937. He was the youngest of three children, all first-generation Italian-Americans. His parents were from Calabria, a province in southern Italy. They emigrated to the United States and settled in Clarksburg, a town of 30,000 in the mountains, where they became part of a small but thriving Italian-American community. "Most Calabrians came to West Virginia to work in the mines," recalls Basile. "But my father didn't want to do that. He was from a long line of tailors, so he worked as a tailor, saved some money, and opened a men's clothing shop." Basile's mother also had a shop of her own: a small country/grocery store. "My parents jokingly described themselves as the merchants of Venice," says Basile. "They fed you and they clothed you." But early on, he realized he had no interest in becoming a merchant himself. After school, he'd spend time at his father's store, but usually ended up at the Clarksburg Public Library, right down the street. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with books and the buildings that house them. Basile attended Fairmont College in West Virginia. At the time, he had no idea what career path he wanted to take. Options were somewhat limited for Italian-Americans in West Virginia. It was the time of Sputnik, and science was in the news. He decided to major in chemistry, figuring a science degree would be useful. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Basile received a graduate fellowship in biochemistry at Georgetown University and moved to Washington, D.C. It was his first time living away from home. Money was tight, so he applied for a part-time job at the Library of Congress. "I worked there several hours a week, and loved the place ÷ the books, the architecture, the beauty of the building," he says. "I became very interested in scientific literature in particular, and in searching for information. From then on, I knew I wanted a career as a librarian." In retrospect, it was a fitting choice. Even as a child, he was always the one who kept the family archives. "I enjoyed collecting, organizing and cataloging things," he states. "I had a large trunk, and every important family artifact went in it ÷ old photos, report cards, awards, diplomas, and other family documents. It's all neatly organized, and I know just where everything is." Basile received a master's degree in library science from Drexel University in 1962. After a short stint in a few academic libraries, he accepted a position as library director at Wyeth Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, where he worked for four years. In 1970, he was offered a fellowship from the Pfeiffer Foundation to organize a pharmacological library in Milan. He jumped at the opportunity to live and work in Italy, and soon became immersed in Italian culture. His stint in Milan allowed him to continued on page 42 enjoy what he calls his 'Grand Tour.' "I traveled around Europe at every opportunity," he says. "My family joined me on some of my travels, and we even went to Calabria to see relatives we'd never met before. A few of my uncles had married Yugoslavian women, so we went there, too. It was a wonderful experience." When Basile returned to the U.S. in 1971, he was contacted by Reginald Smith, an old friend and former co-worker from his days at Wyeth. Smith, now associate library director at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (which later became UMDNJ), offered Basile a job as assistant librarian. He took the train from Philadelphia to Newark to meet with Smith and see the facilities. It was just after the city of Newark had been traumatized by rioting and looting. At that time, the library was housed in what the librarians jokingly called the "blue Quonset huts" ÷ office space located in trailers on the Newark campus. A new library was under construction. "The library's catalog of books, journals and audiovisual materials was on three by five file cards stored in less than one hundred drawers," says Judy Cohn, Acting University Librarian. "Books were charged out manually, and literature searches of bound indexes were done exclusively by reference librarians." Basile was impressed by the social consciousness and diversity of the fledgling school. "There was a feeling on campus of trying to improve things, to make people's lives better," he says. "I knew I wanted to work here." Among his first responsibilities was helping to plan the physical space of the new facility ÷ the George F. Smith Library ÷ which was finally completed in 1975. He also oversaw the move of the 75,000-volume collection into the new building, which had plenty of room for the library to grow and expand its collections. Perhaps most important, Basile provided the leadership that brought the UMDNJ health sciences libraries into the digital age. Computers, technology and the World Wide Web have revolutionized research, and librarians can no longer rely on the old methods of searching for information. So in 1980 Basile enrolled in a master's degree in public administration program at Rutgers University in Newark. The program included many courses in computer science. He describes this step as "re-engineering myself by learning about computers so I could keep up with the rapidly changing technology." In 1990, Basile was named University Librarian/Director of Libraries. In this capacity, he oversaw the transformation of the University libraries, which are scattered on different campuses across the state, to a Virtual University Library all connected by a computer network. To achieve this goal, Basile became skilled at obtaining grants. Funding from the New Jersey Department of Higher Education enabled the University to network its entire library system. A current initiative is the Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS), sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. Approximately $5 million is being requested to bring the scholarly resources of the library to all aspects of the University ÷ desktops, labs, clinical and research settings ÷ and bring clinical and research information into the library as well. "It's not enough to have these resources," says Basile. "You also have to make them accessable, particularly in an academic environment. The UMDNJ Library staff is educating our primary users ÷ faculty, students and administration ÷ to adapt to rapid changes in technology and information transfer." The Libraries are not all high-tech, however. There is much of historical interest to be found in the stacks. Medical history is one of Basile's special interests, and he was instrumental in bringing the collections of the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey to the Smith Library. The Academy, a professional society of New Jersey physicians, had assembled an excellent collection of rare and valuable medical works, including some dating back to the 16th century. The collection is housed in the Barbara Manisty Peck History of Medicine Room along with the university archives, a complete history of UMDNJ's growth. Funding for the room was provided by the family of a retired UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School faculty member, and named for their aunt. It's a favorite place for people with an interest in medical history to sit and pore over the old works, and Basile says the collections are heavily used. "We are fortunate to have these unique collections, which document New Jersey's medical heritage," says Lois Densky-Wolff, Special Collections Director at the George F. Smith Library. Basile's tenure at UMDNJ spanned almost 30 years to the day. His retirement was marked by a lecture/reception and other celebrations, which were attended by members of his University family. The fifth Rosenstein Lecture, named for Philip Rosenstein, the founding University Librarian and Basile's mentor, was delivered in his honor by Robert M. Braude, PhD, who spoke about the academic health sciences library in the digital world. A special presentation prepared by Basile's staff described him, humorously and affectionately, as 'The Prince of Libraries.' He earned this name for his demeanor, his impeccable dress, and his unfailing charm and courtesy to everybody he encountered. A resolution was also passed by the University's Board of Trustees awarding him the honorary title of University Librarian Emeritus, recognizing him as being a "leader and visionary to UMDNJ and an outstanding representative of the profession of health science librarians." He leaves behind a complex library system that includes more than 25 online databases, almost 2,000 full-text electronic journals, a University-wide library staff of 60 and an operating budget approaching $5 million. Basile divides his time between his New York City apartment, where he's lived for 25 years, and a country home in Bucks County, PA. This summer, he is returning to Italy, where he will spend time on the Italian Riviera before attending a conference of health science librarians in Sardinia. "Now that I'm retired, my trips will be much longer!" he says, laughing. He's also planning another trip to his hometown of Clarksburg. During Labor Day Weekend the town hosts its heralded Italian-American Heritage Festival ÷ and Basile has been selected the Festival's Man of the Year. He will ride in the parade and see old friends and relatives, including his sister and brother-in-law. In retirement, he will continue to pursue what interests him: travel, collecting architectural prints and historical medical books, and music. "I'm planning to follow Pythagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher who resided in southern Italy," he says. "He advocated a healthy diet, exercise, and a passion for music, the arts and meditation. It's all mapped out for me." Spoken like a true scholar and librarian. |
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The magazine of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey |
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literally
around the world. But a part-time job at the Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C., held when he was a graduate student, was what led him to become
a librarian. His tenure at UMDNJ coincided with the tremendous growth
of the university and its libraries -- especially its "crown jewel": the
George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences in Newark.