Former SJCL Library Director Alicia Diaz Wrest poses with new Library Director Mark Masters
Professor Mark Masters’ arrival as the new San Joaquin College of Law Library Director feels like a natural progression, rather than a change. Masters has been an Adjunct Professor, teaching Legal Methods, during the past four years. It was a natural that he would be collaborating frequently with Professor Alicia Diaz Wrest, who was SJCL Library Director and is now Associate Academic Dean.
Wrest not only welcomes his arrival as fulltime faculty, but says the collaboration is far from over. They plan to write an article together, focusing on the changing role of libraries. She says “There is so much more going on in libraries in the digital age that enrich students’ lives.”
Masters says those transitional roles will be very visible as the Law School takes over the current Clovis Senior Center as part of the library, adding study areas, collaboration spaces, newer technology, and more. He believes it will “serve as an information hub where students, faculty, and alumni can obtain the law, study the law, and actually discuss the law with one another.” He believes the groundwork is already there, due to the large presence of alumni library users, which “present opportunities to students to network and gain knowledge and understanding from practicing attorneys.” The new space also opens opportunities for the SJCL faculty to work on scholarship.
Masters comes well-prepared for the task. He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School and his Master’s in Library Science from U.C.L.A. He also has a Master’s in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in History/Art History from Loyola Marymount University.
He was the reference and collection development librarian at the Fresno County Public Law Library for five years prior to accepting the position at SJCL. Prior to that, he was a reference librarian at the Los Angeles County Public Law Library and a reference librarian at the Darling Law Library at UCLA. Masters also practiced law as a civil litigator in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties for five years. His areas of practice were first-party insurance policy issues, common-interest community law, education law, and neighbor disputes.
So, to paraphrase “Blazing Saddles,” What's a dazzling urbanite like Masters doing in a rustic setting like this? He says Fresno reminds him of the West San Fernando Valley when he was growing up there; it was an area with lots of open fields next to suburban outcroppings. “Definitely growing” is his assessment. His wife is a high school teacher in Hanford. They live with his mother-in-law and three cats, but are hoping to add some children to the tribe in the near future. It feels like home.
Masters originally intended to use his degrees in Art to build an avocation, working in art galleries, museums, and auction houses, but it receded into a hobby as his law career gained speed. His other passion is classic cars. He has owned everything from Mercedes Benz SLs to a GTO, 1977 Lincoln Continental, old police cars, and more, which he says he “tries” to restore.
Or maybe his other passion is students. He says they are extremely enthusiastic over his new position, with one stopping by his office on his first day as Library Director. “She came by to chat. And to see if the rumor was true.”