with technical assistance from
Prof. Laetitia La Follette
Suzanne Lomanto, Art History '95 UM/A
and Betty Wilda, UMass AV Dept.

The mask is a symbol of what takes place in the library. People go into the library to read books and educate themselves. Reading a book transports us into another world, unleashing our imagination in the pursuit of knowledge. Similarly, masks, be they designed for theatrical or ritual purposes, help convey us to another world, kindling our powers of imagination in the pursuit of self-knowledge. Both the book and the mask are thus catalysts, the "express route" of our title.

Of all the buildings on campus, the W.E.B. Du Bois Library is the most representative of UMass' mission to educate, to combat ignorance, and to achieve self-knowledge. Greek culture lies at the heart of this ideal, since the Greeks were the first to suggest that education lay within the grasp of many, not just the elite. Much of early Greek education, however, took place through mythology and theater. Plays were mediators of Greek literature for the illiterate majority of the people. Theatrical productions were thus cultural learning experiences. It was through mythology and drama that the Greeks addressed universal concepts of the world and the human race. The mythological masks found here illustrate some of the ideas and ideals, particularly the notion that the world is a chaotic place, and the best antidotes humans can devise fot it are order and balance.