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A Great Library for the Future: The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign
One of the world’s great research libraries is located in the heart of the twin cities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Offering millions of resources for students, faculty, and the public alike, the University Library is the treasure of campus and a valuable resource for all citizens. Those interested in conducting scholarly research are encouraged to come in, explore, and make use of the outstanding collections and services.
Established in 1867 with only 644 books from $1,000 appropriated by the state of Illinois, the University Library is now recognized internationally for its excellence. The first public university library to reach 10 million volumes, its collections represent the vast history of humanity’s intellectual achievements. The Library carefully protects its holdings through a comprehensive preservation program, which cares for an increasing number of materials each year: in 2006, more than 17,000 books and manuscript pages were treated.
The Library’s materials are actively used, with more than one million items circulated annually and many more utilized on site. Resources are located in the Main Library book stacks and more than 35 departmental and area studies libraries, each headed by an accomplished faculty librarian. The Library employs nearly 200 professional staff and 200 support staff as well as more than 100 student assistants. All librarians are faculty members of the University who contribute significantly to their respective fields of study.
Accessibility and resource sharing are the hallmarks of the University Library. The Library’s web site attracts more than 50 million visitors on an annual basis, and its online catalog, bibliographic databases, and web services are used heavily, with millions of users logging in each year to obtain information. The holdings include many of the latest electronic resources that provide access to scholarly literature at the University of Illinois as well as other institutions.
The Library’s mission involves providing expert assistance and access to information both for academic purposes and lifelong learning. As the world changes to become more technology focused, libraries must adapt to the needs of its users. The University Library is a leader in developing electronic tools that provide immediate and easy access to collections and services.
The Library’s engages in a number of programs and partnerships that impact the community, state, nation, and world. These initiatives include collection development, customized services, and new strategies for information delivery. The following initiatives contribute to the Library’s ongoing excellence and the University’s reputation as an institution of worldwide preeminence.
Digital Library Initiative [1]
The Library is a member of the Open Content Alliance (OCA), an international group of organizations working to build a permanent archive of digitized text and multimedia content. Formed less than two years ago, OCA has digitized and made available over 100,000 electronic books in the public domain, all downloadable through its parent organization, the Internet Archive. The Library anticipates digitizing and uploading 6,000 volumes by year’s end. All digitization is conducted at the OCA Scanning Center in the Library’s high-density shelving facility.
Gaming for the Ages [2]
Gaming collections and services are gaining ground as valuable tools for education and research. The Library’s Gaming Collection supports a wide variety of interdisciplinary programs and scholarly research on campus as well as the needs of students interested in gaming for class work and other activities. The Library is collecting video games and consoles as well as video-game related literature for its collection, one of the first of its kind for an academic library.
Google Book Search Project [3]
The University Library and other libraries in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) are partnering with Google to scan and make available publicly up to 10 million volumes. The partnership, part of the Google Book Search project, will digitize some of the most distinctive collections from the CIC’s holdings, now totaling over 75 million volumes.
Mortenson Center for International Library Programs [4]
The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs works to strengthen international ties among libraries and librarians worldwide. To date, more than 700 librarians from 89 countries have benefited from the training activities of the Center, which sponsors an annual distinguished lecture on a topic related to international understanding.
Undergraduate Library Learning Commons [5]
The Undergraduate Library is implementing a new learning environment called the Learning Commons, which integrates library reference services with other valuable campus services, resources, and technologies. Library users now can receive reference assistance, obtain materials and collections, and access new technologies for learning and coursework in one convenient, user-friendly location.
The Library at a Glance
Meeting Interdisciplinary Needs through Rich Collections
• More than 10 million volumes and 24 million materials, including maps, films, music scores, and manuscripts.
• Special collections including significant holdings in fifteenth-century printing as well as English literature and history, particularly Elizabethan England and the writings of John Milton, and the history of natural science. The Library also owns important archival collections such as the papers of Marcel Proust, Carl Sandburg, H.G. Wells, and W.S. Merwin.
• Digital collections ranging from the papers of Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist James “Scotty” Reston to historical maps charting 400 years of development in Illinois and the Northwest Territory.
• Renowned holdings that serve as the cornerstone for many of the University’s most prestigious programs and research initiatives.
Serving as a Destination for Research Assistance
• More than 35 departmental libraries serving all campus disciplines as well as several interdisciplinary programs, including Medieval Studies and Jewish Studies.
• Library professionals who expertly manage the collections and create innovative services that enhance instruction and information delivery.
• Facilities that include the largest engineering library in the country and a state-of-the-art agriculture library.
Providing 24/7 Access to Digital Resources through Virtual Library Services
• Advanced digital resources, including full-text journals, reference sources, and abstracting and indexing guides.
• Digital, real-time interactive reference services through “Ask a Librarian,” including Instant Messaging and Chat.
• Powerful software that allows library users to simultaneously search multiple databases.
• Convenient, easy-to-use electronic reserves.
• Access to I-Share, a resource sharing system for 71 Illinois academic libraries, and WorldCat, the world’s largest bibliographic database.
• More than 50,000 online research resources in over 60 subject areas, including arts and humanities, science and technology, and social sciences.
Questions?
Please contact the Library Information Desk at:
Phone: (217) 333-2290 E-mail: reflib@library.uiuc.edu or “Ask-A-Librarian” at [6]
University Library Home Page: [7] Library Hours: [8] Parking Information: [9] Departmental Libraries: [10]
