Northwestern University Libraries is the main

academic library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

system of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Northwestern Libraries host a total of 8,198,268 printed or electronic volumes. In addition, its libraries contain 229,198

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

s, 211,127 audio files, 103,377 printed journals, 196,716 electronic journals, 91,334

movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

or videos, 36,989 manuscripts, 4.6 million

microform A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

s, and almost 99,000

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

s. The University Library is the 14th-largest university library in North America based on total number of titles held. The building was designed in

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

style by Walter Netsch of

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

. Construction started in 1966 and the library opened in 1970. University Library succeeded Deering Library as the main library on campus and is connected to it. Along with the other institutions in the

Committee on Institutional Cooperation The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), is the academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference. The consortium was renamed on June 29, 2016. Member universities The Big ...

, University Library joined the

Google Book Search Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

project on June 6, 2007.June 6, 2007 "Google Project Will Create Digital Repository for Select University Library Collections

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Library Collections

*Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies: established in 1954, and named after Melville J. Herskovits, the Herskovits Library is the largest separate Africana collection in existence. The collection includes more than 400,000 volumes (including 20,000 in African languages), 250 current newspapers and 6,000 non-circulating rare books. *The Music Library: contains extensive holdings of printed music and archival materials documenting music composed since 1945. The collection includes more than 300,000 items, including the

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

collection. *Transportation Library: one of the largest transportation information centers in the world with a collection of over 500,000 items covering air, rail, highway, pipeline, water, urban transport and logistics. *The Art Library: the Art Library holds over 160,000 books and journals about art, architecture, and design, with particular strength in 19th century art and architecture. * Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections *Northwestern University Archives *Pritzker Legal Research Center: the library is located on the Chicago campus and serves the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. *Seeley G. Mudd Library: Located on North Campus, Mudd Library was renovated in 2017 with collaboration and technology in mind. *Styberg Library: the theological library serves the Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary and Bexley Seabury. * Charles Deering Memorial Library: built in 1933, and named for Charles Deering, the library houses the art library, the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, the Music Library and University Archives. *Boas Mathematics Library: the library serves primarily the Mathematics Department and Statistics Department and has a research collection in pure mathematics and statistics of around 34,000 volumes.

Other Facilities

*Oak Grove Library Center (OGLC): OGLC is a high-density shelving unit with a capacity of 3 million volumes, that serves Northwestern University Library, the Galter Health Sciences Library and Pritzker Legal Research Center. Most of the stored documents have electronic equivalents.

Other Initiatives

Northwestern University Library is a partner with the Native American Education Services College (NAES), the American Indian Association of Illinois, and Northwestern University's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research in the NAES College Digital Library Project, which preserves the NAES College library and archives.

References

External links

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Northwestern University (NU) Libraries' Transportation LibraryNU Libraries' Digital Collections
{{Authority control Library buildings completed in 1970 University and college academic libraries in the United States Northwestern University campus Brutalist architecture in Illinois Libraries in Cook County, Illinois 1970 establishments in Illinois