The library system of
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...
(Tufts Libraries) covers all academic departments comprising the university. The main library is
Tisch Library, which holds about 2.5 million volumes, with other holdings dispersed at subject libraries.
History
Tufts' library was established in 1850 with a gift of seven volumes, three years before classes began. The collection moved from building to building on the academic quad until in 1908, Tufts' first library building, Eaton Memorial Library (now Eaton Hall), was made possible with a donation from
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
. Carnegie's wife requested that the building be named after a Tufts graduate, Reverend Charles Eaton, who had presided over her wedding.
The building received an extension in 1950 with the construction of the War Memorial Library in honor of the Tufts alumni who served in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. By 1965 the collection outgrew the building and was moved to a new main library named Wessell Library. Additionally the demand for more square footage prompted the expansion of Wessell. In 1995, with the addition of , the main library was renamed
Tisch Library.
Smaller libraries
In addition to the main library, there are a few smaller libraries that serve specialized fields:
*Edward Ginn Library – provides collections and services for the
Fletcher School. It is one of the largest specialized libraries in the field of international affairs. The collection holds over 120,000 volumes.
*Hirsh Health Sciences Library – provides resources for the
School of Medicine
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
,
School of Dental Medicine,
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the
Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is one of the eight schools that comprise Tufts University. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) is located on the university's health sciences campus in the Chinatown district of Boston, ...
and the
HNRCA.
The library has been operating since the 1960s, and was rededicated in 2005 as the Hirsh Health Sciences Library.
*Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine – located on the Grafton campus, supports the clinical programs of both the Large Animal Hospital and the Foster Hospital for Small Animals, as well as the informational needs of the students in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Master’s and PhD programs.
List of Tufts Libraries
Tufts Archival Research CenterEdward Ginn LibraryHirsh Health Sciences LibraryLilly Music Library
* Tisch Library
W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. LibraryWebster Family Library
References
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Tufts University