The Oberlin College Libraries (OCL) is a system of libraries located in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

comprising th
Mary Church Terrell Main Library
Clarence Ward Art Library, Conservatory Library, and Science Library. The recipient of the

ACRL The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

br>Excellence in Academic Libraries Award
in 2002, the Oberlin College Libraries are recognized for superior collections and services. The library system has more than 2.4 million items of print and media materials, as well as extensive online journals and research databases. OCL is a member of the

OhioLINK The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Serving more than 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at 88 institutions with 117 libraries, OhioLINK' ...

consortium which provides rapid access to an additional 50 million volumes from colleges and universities across Ohio. On October 6, 2018, the Main Library located in the Mudd Center, was renamed for Oberlin graduate

Mary Church Terrell Mary Terrell (born Mary Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was an American civil rights activist, journalist, teacher and one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She taught in the Latin Department at the M St ...

(class of 1884, 1888, and Hon. 1948), who is held in high esteem because she was one of the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

women to earn a college degree

History

Under the leadership of college librarian Azariah Smith Root (1887–1927), the Oberlin College Library grew by the end of his tenure to the sixteenth largest academic library in the nation. The former central library, which was funded by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, opened in 1908 and served both the college and the town of Oberlin for almost seven decades. The current main library in Mudd Center opened in 1974. The Oberlin College Library, under the direction of Library Director Eileen Thornton, was a founding member of

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

and under the direction of Ray English was the first independent college library to join the

consortium. The Oberlin College Library went under a name change from "library" to "libraries" in 2017 under the direction of Alexia Hudson-Ward (the second woman and first person of color to lead the libraries). This change highlighted the system's distinctiveness of being one of the few liberal arts college library systems with four libraries in the nation. Hudson-Ward also led the naming of the Mary Church Terrell Main Library in October 2018. The library directors of the

Oberlin Group The Oberlin Group of Libraries is a consortium of American liberal arts colleges, led by a board elected from its members' libraries' directors. The group evolved from meetings of college presidents in 1985 and 1986 at Oberlin College. , it has 8 ...

, a national consortium of selective liberal arts college libraries, first met at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 1986.

Facilities and Services

The Mary Church Terrell Main library, located in Mudd Center, houses the social sciences and humanities collections, special collections, and the Oberlin College Archives. The library system also encompasses th
Conservatory Library
th
Clarence Ward Art Library
th
Science Library
and a central storage facility. Th

on the main level of Mudd Center opened in 2007 and was dedicated as the Robert S. Lemle ‘75 and Roni Kohen-Lemle ‘76 Academic Commons in 2011. It is a hub of social and academic activity, with spaces for collaborative work and tutoring, in-depth research appointments, learning support services, and technology support in partnership with th
Center for Information Technology
The Academic Commons features an electronic classroom, Azariah's Café, computer workstations, six group study rooms, circulation and reference services, and the Writing Center.

References

External links

Oberlin College Libraries websiteOberlin College Library Records and Administrative HistoryOhioLINK Consortium websiteOberlin Group of LibrariesHistory of Carnegie Library, 1908-2008
{{authority control Oberlin College Library buildings completed in 1908 Carnegie libraries in Ohio Oberlin College buildings and structures University and college academic libraries in Ohio 1908 establishments in Ohio Brutalist architecture in Ohio University and college buildings completed in 1908