The Special Collections Endowment is the result of decades of hard work by founding Special Collections Librarian Rita Bottoms and her staff and was established with a high level of support, well beyond the minimum threshold for endowed funds.

The new Special Collections Endowment is the library's basic unrestricted fund to support enhanced acquisitions for special collections. It is complemented by other, more focused funds for special collections, such as the venerable Strouse Fund for Thomas Carlyle.

The Special Collections Endowment has been enriched through the generous fundraising efforts of Carmel's Highlands Inn. Under the leadership of Helmut Horn and David Fink, Highlands Inn sponsored an exhibition from UCSC's outstanding Edward Weston collection, as well as an elegant gourmet feast, the proceeds of which substantially enhanced the endowment.