The future of California's most comprehensive historical newspaper archive has been thrown into uncertainty after UC Riverside dismissed the entire team responsible for managing the California Digital Newspaper Collection, even though state and federal funding for the project was recently restored.
According to Coachella Valley Independent, Brian Geiger, director of the Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research (CBSR) at UC Riverside, and his entire team were laid off on June 27. The timing proved particularly ironic—the state and federal funding intended to support the collection through fiscal 2025-2026 was reinstated just days before their termination.
A Massive Historical Resource at Risk
The California Digital Newspaper Collection represents an unprecedented repository of state history, containing nearly 23.5 million pages from hundreds of newspapers dating back to 1846. As reported by Coachella Valley Independent, the archive includes content from California's first newspaper, The Californian, to the Black-owned San Francisco paper The Pacific Appeal and the Sacramento Daily Union.
The collection allows users to search stories by date or keyword across nearly 1.5 million issues spanning over 21 million pages. However, technical problems are already emerging following the staff dismissals, with Sacramento News & Review reporting that while searches still function, actual newspaper-page images have become inaccessible.
Financial Confusion and Administrative Silence
The situation began unfolding in April when UC Riverside's College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences learned that expected state funding for the 2024-2025 fiscal year would not materialize. As detailed by Sacramento News & Review, Geiger determined the funds had likely been redirected by the State Library, leaving CBSR facing approximately $300,000 in debt.
In response, Geiger launched a public fundraising campaign that successfully raised about $110,000 to bridge the funding gap. The decision to terminate the team appears to have originated from CHASS Dean Daryle Williams, though the dean's office has declined to provide any explanation for the move.
Local Communities Feel the Impact
The layoffs have particularly affected local institutions that invested heavily in the collection. The city of Palm Springs spent nearly $300,000 to digitize archives of The Desert Sun from 1934 to 1993, partnering with the CDNC to host their digitized content, according to Coachella Valley Independent.
Jeannie Kays, director of library services for Palm Springs, expressed dismay about Geiger's termination in an interview with Coachella Valley Independent. "That's sad. That is really sad, because he's the heart of this project," she said. "He is the lifeblood... He was my only point of contact, the only person I ever dealt with, for our Desert Sun archive."
Broader Funding Challenges
The CDNC situation reflects wider challenges facing digital humanities projects across California. Earlier this year, the California State Library received notice that approximately $3.4 million—more than 21% of a $15.7 million federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services—had been canceled, affecting various library projects statewide, as noted by The Emperor Norton Trust.
Effective July 1, 2025, the Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research functions will fall under direct oversight of the Office of the Dean within CHASS. However, the path forward remains unclear, with UC Riverside acknowledging that restored funding may not adequately cover rising costs of personnel, technology, and cybersecurity.
The California Digital Newspaper Collection continues to operate for now, though its long-term future without dedicated staff remains uncertain, highlighting the precarious state of digital humanities infrastructure and the challenges of maintaining essential research resources in an era of shifting institutional priorities.
