The University Libraries are the academic library system for

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

and its regional campuses.

History

Establishment

The first library of the Bowling Green Normal College was established in 1914 in the basement of a nearby

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church, with its first professional librarian hired in 1915. Also in 1915, the library was moved from its temporary location off campus to the third floor of University Hall.

McFall Center

In 1927 the library moved into its first dedicated building, The McFall Center. In the 1950s, the old library was expanded; by 1961, it contained 330,000 items.

Jerome Library

Construction of a new library began in 1965. In 1982, the completed building was named in honor of William Travers Jerome III, the sixth president of Bowling Green State University. As of 2017, Jerome Library served about 450,000 people annually and held over two million items.

Jerome Library

The building was designed by state architect Carl E. Bentz. It features unique non-objective

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s on its east and west facades, created by Don Drumm, an artist in residence during the 1960s. Drumm first outlined his contemporary designs on the concrete; construction crews then sandblasted the designs into the surface. Drumm added shadow pins to the west facade which cast light in a way that completed the mural. The nine-level, 156,895 square foot mural sits between Memorial and East Halls. The William T. Jerome Library is open to the community. It is also a member of

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' ...

, a statewide library and information system that enables BGSU students, faculty, and staff to borrow books from other Ohio libraries and access many online research databases.

Learning Commons

The

Learning Commons A learning commons (also called a scholars’ commons or information commons) is a technology-rich, flexible space for collaborative study and information sharing. There is typically a stronger focus on digital technology in a learning commons tha ...

opened in the fall of 2011, consolidating the Study Skills Center, Writing Center, and Mathematics and Statistics Tutoring Center. It offers 13,565 square feet of study space, computers, and a tutorial center.

Specialized collections and branches

Government Documents (1st floor)

Bowling Green State University, which serves

Ohio's 5th Congressional district Ohio's 5th congressional district is in northwestern and north central Ohio and borders Indiana. The district is currently represented by Republican Party (United States), Republican Bob Latta. Recent election results from statewide races ...

, became a federal depository in 1933. Librarians select 57% of the offered items, receiving approximately 400 documents monthly. This collection of 700,000 publications is rich in historical and current material, including the following materials: * Census of Population reports from 1790 to present * Foreign Relations of the United States * U.S. Treaties and International Agreements * U.S. Congressional Serial Set The collection emphasizes materials in business, civil rights, economics, education, environment, foreign relations, health, housing, justice, labor, presidential materials, small business, and social welfare. Librarians also select congressional materials, including hearings, reports, documents, floor debates, bills and public laws, and studies. The department became an Ohio depository in 1953 and received all agency publications from the state depository program. As a result, the collection includes agency publications such as reports, directories, pamphlets, leaflets, posters, newsletters, and journals; Judicial Branch materials including administrative opinions and the

Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

opinions and decisions; and

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Colu ...

materials, including the Laws of Ohio and the House and Senate Journals. In the early 1980s, selected material from the city of

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

was added to the collection, including City Council Minutes, Mayor's Reports, the Bowling Green City Code of Ordinances, and the Annual Report of the Bowling Green Police Division. BGSU became a Canadian Government Documents Depository in October 1999. This collection focuses on business, environment,

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, Native Peoples, and social issues. It includes journals, reports, and cd-roms. The library also collects some of the essential statistical reports produced by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

.University Libraries Government Documents Collection
Retrieved 2010-01-20

Curriculum Resource Center

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Curriculum Resource Center (CRC)
supports the undergraduate and graduate teaching programs in the College of Education and Human Development and other BGSU education-related areas by maintaining a collection of high-quality preschool through grade twelve materials reflecting innovation in teaching practices and standards-based instruction. Materials held by the CRC comprise th

so named on March 30, 2001, in honor of Professor Povsic's significant, enduring, and distinctive contributions to the CRC, the University Libraries, and BGSU. The CRC is also home to th

Music Library and Bill Schurk Sound Archives

The Music Library and Bill Schurk Sound Archives, located on the third floor of Jerome Library, contains materials related to the study of music. Although the collection primarily supports the undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Musical Arts, the Department of Popular Culture, and the Center for American Culture Studies, the resources of the library are available to all interested users. The Music Library contains more than 60,000 books and scores related to all aspects of the study of music. Studies ranging from biography to general histories of music, from theoretical treatises to studies of such diverse elements as

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, and band music are included in the collection. The score collection includes solos, orchestral studies, exercise books, and chamber music for ensembles from two to ten parts. The recordings collection, which circulates on a limited basis, contains more than 16,000 recordings of music from all periods of music history as well as ethnic music,

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. In addition, the Music Library maintains recital tapes from the College of Musical Arts dating from 1966. All masters' theses In addition, all documents written by graduate students in the College of Musical Arts are housed in the collection. The Music Library houses two special collections: The Bill Schurk Sound Archives and the Archives of the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music. The Bill Schurk Sound Archives considered the nation's premier collection of popular music sound recordings, contains more than 700,000 recordings representing all styles of popular music and all recorded formats. Established in 1967 for the scholarly study of popular music, the Bill Schurk Sound Archives serves campus patrons and researchers from around the world. Discographies, books, and periodicals related to popular music and the recording industry are also included in this collection. Established in 1987, the Archives of the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music contains music submitted to and performed at the College of Musical Arts' New Music and Art Festival. The collection currently contains more than 3800 contemporary music scores, many in manuscript.University Libraries Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives
Retrieved 2010-01-22

Browne Popular Culture Library

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(BPCL), founded in 1969 and dedicated to the acquisition and preservation of research materials on American popular culture (post-1876), is the most comprehensive repository of its kind in the United States.University Libraries Browne Popular Culture Library
Retrieved 2010-01-22 The Browne Popular Culture Library holds more than 190,000 cataloged books. Popular fiction predominates, particularly novels in the

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

, mystery-detective,

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

genres. This Library also contains extensive collections of late 19th- and 20th-century juvenile/young adult series fiction. Other major strengths of the Browne Popular Culture Library include materials documenting popular entertainment and the entertainment industry (e.g.,

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

film 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, sinc ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, and the

mass communications Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

industry), graphic arts, recreation and leisure, and popular religion. Non-fiction holdings also include books on the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

and

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...

, manner and customs, etiquette and advice, arts and crafts, hobbies, games and amusements, sports, foodways and cookery, domestic arts, costume and dress, and humor. Users can also find popular reference and informational materials (self-help and how-to books, for example) in the library's collections. In addition to many rare hardcover and paperback books and magazines, the Browne Popular Culture Library houses archival and special collections, including literary manuscripts and movie and television scripts. Non-traditional library resources such as

dime novels The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...

, story papers and nickel weeklies,

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. ...

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

and other amateur publications,

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

, and posters, postcards, greeting cards, mail-order catalogs, and travel brochures, comprise some of the library's most unusual collections. There are approximately 85,000 comic books in the collection. The Browne Popular Culture Library also collects manuscripts to support and complement existing print collections.University Libraries About the Browne Popular Culture Library
Retrieved 2010-01-22 BPCL includes th

The Star Trek Collection includes Star Trek memorabilia given to the Popular Culture Library principally by Marie Wakefield but also contains items received from Sandra Springer and other miscellaneous sources. The collection consists of a wide range of materials including, but not limited to, books, journals, clothing items, models, posters, games, puzzles, greeting cards, playing and trading cards, and calendars.

Center for Archival Collections

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Center for Archival Collections
is an archives and manuscripts repository within the University Libraries at Bowling Green State University. The primary mission of the CAC is to actively acquire, preserve, and make accessible to researchers historical materials in Northwest Ohio. In addition, it houses the BGSU University Archives, the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, a rare books collection, special collections, and the National Student Affairs Archives. The collection emphasizes local history, Great Lakes maritime history, women's history, the Civil War, education, and all aspects of northwest Ohio's social, cultural, economic, and industrial history.University Libraries Center for Archival Collections
Retrieved 2010-01-22

Historical Collections of the Great Lakes

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(HCGL) is part of the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and make historical materials documenting the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

and connecting waterways available to scholars, students, and the public. The HCGL's collections include materials related to the commercial shipping,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

, navigation,

maritime law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between pri ...

, commercial fishing,

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

, yachting, labor history, popular literature, freshwater ecology, maritime culture, and the history of Great Lakes ports. The types of materials include manuscripts, newspaper clippings, photographs, maps, vessel data sheets, maritime architectural drawings, and published materials.University Libraries Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
Retrieved 2010-01-22 In 2017 this collection received a large donation of materials from the

National Museum of the Great Lakes The National Museum of the Great Lakes is a museum in the Toledo Maritime Center, a heritage location on the banks of the Maumee River on the east side of Toledo, Ohio. Operated by the Great Lakes Historical Society, it celebrates the natural and ...

Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository

The Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository is a storage facility in

Perrysburg, Ohio Perrysburg is a city located in Wood County, Ohio, United States, along the south side of the Maumee River. The population was 25,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Part of the Toledo metropolitan area, the city is southwest of To ...

containing BGSU and

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

library materials. The building can hold up to 1.8 million items.

References

External links

Floors of Jerome Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Libraries At Bowling Green State University

Libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

University and college buildings completed in 1967

Library buildings completed in 1967 1967 establishments in Ohio