Institute History
In 1992, after attending a presentation on the Children's Book Collection (CBC) with an enthusiastic audience of Friends of the UCLA Library and Friends of English, Lloyd Cotsen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Neutrogena Corporation, told David Zeidberg, who was then head of the Department of Special Collections, of his interest in supporting projects that would have a direct impact on students and teachers in elementary schools. The letters and meetings that followed focused on outreach to primary school children using the CBC and other pertinent holdings of the library. This approach reflected Cotsen's concern about the lack of stimulation in primary and secondary education and his desire to revive enthusiasm for learning and reading among students. A prominent collector of children's books himself, Lloyd Cotsen has been a supporter of the LEARN program of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), a program designed to improve teaching at the primary level.

With Cotsen's encouragement and promise of financial support, David Zeidberg initiated discussions with Deborah Stipek, then director of the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School (UES), the laboratory school for the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

To explore the potential for a Children's Book Collection/primary materials project further, David Zeidberg, UES Librarian Judith Kantor, and UES demonstration teachers Kent Lewis, Ruthellen Moss, and Jan Powell formed a team. They decided on a program that would bring classroom teachers to campus for a one-week institute of intensive summer study. With this collaborative design an innovative alliance between UES and the Library began.

Since its inception the Institute on Primary Resources has hosted eleven Summer Institute on Primary Resources. In addition teachers have participated in Advanced Institutes and Academic Year Inservices. While the Institue no longer hosts a summer program, it continues to hold annual workshops on using primary resources in the classroom.