Washington University Libraries is the

library 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 ...

system of

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. The Washington University Libraries are a powerful network of academic resources featuring 9 University Libraries (7 locations on the Danforth Campus, one on the West Campus, and one at the Medical School); vast print and electronic collections; and expert librarians whose priority is helping students and faculty find the information they need. The John M. Olin Library is the central library.

Olin Library

Centrally located on the

Danforth Campus The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th chancellor o ...

, just west of the Brookings Quadrangle, Olin Library houses general–interest materials and collections in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. It is also a designated

federal depository library The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a government program created to make U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. there are 1,114 depository libraries in the United States and its territories. A "go ...

and houses over 70,000

microfilm 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. Olin Library also houses the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections, which includes the literary papers of

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for '' Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

Howard Nemerov Howard Nemerov (February 29, 1920 – July 5, 1991) was an American poet. Nemerov was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of English and Distinguished Poet in Residence at Washington University in St. Louis. He was twice ...

Stanley Elkin Stanley Lawrence Elkin (May 11, 1930 – May 31, 1995) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His extravagant, satirical fiction revolves around American consumerism, popular culture, and male-female relationships. Biograp ...

William Gass William Howard Gass (July 30, 1924 – December 6, 2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven vol ...

Mona Van Duyn Mona Jane Van Duyn (May 9, 1921 – December 2, 2004) was an American poet. She was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1992. Biography Early years Van Duyn was born May 9, 1921, in Waterloo, Iowa."Van Duyn, Mona (1921–2004)." '' Dictio ...

, and many other important writers. Special Collections focuses on six primary areas: the Dowd Illustration Research Archive, Film & Media Archive, Local History, Manuscripts, Rare Books, and the University Archives. The Washington University Film & Media Archive within Special Collections includes material created by alumnus

Henry Hampton Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. (8 January 1940 – 22 November 1998) was an American filmmaker. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary '' Eyes on the Prize,'' which won six ...

documenting the Civil Rights Movement. Built in the early 1960s after a gift from

John M. Olin John Merrill Olin (November 10, 1892 – September 8, 1982) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin. Early life and education Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.S ...

and opened in 1962, the John M. Olin Library replaced the University's former main library at Ridgley Hall. In 2004, the Olin Library was rededicated after a comprehensive renovation and an expansion of the main floor. This process took more than three years. The library contains a cafe/coffee shop, study spaces for graduate and undergraduate students, and many general services and administrative offices of the Washington University Libraries. The Washington University Libraries closed three Danforth Campus locations in 2021: the Chemistry Library, Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Physics Library, and Ronald Rettner Earth & Planetary Science Library. Most of the physical collections for these three spaces moved to the John M. Olin Library.

Washington University Film & Media Archive

The Washington University Film & Media Archive is an archive composed of completed films and videos, most notably ''

Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kin ...

'' the definitive documentary on America's civil rights movement. The archive also holds numerous materials that went into the creation of other works. The Archive collects photos, interviews, stock footage, producer's research notes, correspondence, treatments, and scripts, all of which provide a distinctive look at the film making at storytelling process for scholars, teachers, filmmakers, and students. Opened in the Fall of 2002, the Film & Media Archive's first acquisition was the

Collection, an archive of the work of one of the most influential African–American filmmakers. For the first time ever, the tens of thousands of materials created by his company Blackside, Inc. during the production process became available for study. The Archive has expanded from its inaugural collection to include the collection of filmmaker

Bill Miles William Miles (April 18, 1931 - May 12, 2013) was an American filmmaker. Born in Harlem, New York (state), New York, he used his deep knowledge and experience of that iconic neighborhood to produce films that tell unique and often inspiring sto ...

, the St. Louis Public School's educational films, and material from Insignia Films' ''Reporting America at War'' series. It continues to grow, focusing on collecting film archives that examine the great social movements of American history and African–American life and culture, and supporting documentary studies. In addition to acquiring collections of major historical importance, the Archive preserves and organizes these materials, publicizes them, and creates related educational and outreach programs.

Documenting Ferguson

Following the

shooting of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Fergu ...

, Washington University Libraries implemented a crowd–sourced digital repository to collected ephemeral documentation of the

Ferguson unrest The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal Killing of Michael Brown, ...

called "Documenting Ferguson". The collection accepts submissions of written testimony, images, and video related to the protests.

Bernard Becker Medical Library

Located on the

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a ca ...

campus, Becker Library serves the Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes–Jewish Hospital, and St. Louis Children's Hospital. The mission of the Becker Medical Library is to provide information resources and technology in support of the educational, research and patient care objectives of the School of Medicine. The library contains over 146,000 volumes, along with over 9,100 print and electronic journal titles. Becker Medical Library is organized into several departments which play unique roles in serving the Washington University School of Medicine community, including: Archives and Rare Books, Collection Management Services, Health Information Resources (Reference), and Translational Research Support.

Leadership

Shirley K. Baker served as dean of Washington University Libraries from 1989 until her retirement on June 30, 2012. Her replacement, Jeffrey Trzeciak, served from July 1, 2012 until July 21, 2016. After being led on an interim basis by Marion G. Crain, a Vice Provost and Professor of Law at Washington University, Denise Stephens took over as University Librarian and Vice Provost on June 15, 2017, until May 14, 2021. Associate University Librarian Leland Deeds led the University Libraries on an interim appointment until Deputy University Librarian at Stanford University Mimi Calter took over as University Librarian and Vice Provost on September 20, 2021.

Specialty libraries

* Al and Ruth Kopolow (Business) Library – serves the

Olin Business School The Olin Business School is the business school and one of seven academic schools at Washington University in St. Louis. The school offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive programs. Olin has more than 20,000 alumni across the w ...

. Databases provided by

Moody's Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

Hoover's D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990 as an American business research company that provided information on companies and industries through their primary product platform named "Hoover's". In 2003, it was acquired b ...

, and Disclosure; receives comprehensive real–time stock and other market information through the

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

and

Bridge Information Systems Bridge Information Systems, Inc., was a financial news and data provider that was acquired by Reuters Group in September 2001.(9 April 2001)Reuters eyes Bridge ''CNN Money'' History The origins of Bridge date to 1974, when the original company wa ...

; maintains a book collection of around 30,000 volumes and subscriptions to more than 400 major business journals, magazines, and newspapers. * Bernard Becker Medical Library – serves as an information resource and services hub for the Washington University Medical Center and the global health sciences community. * Brown School Library – houses

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

materials, including 50,000 books, journals, publications and videos; periodical holdings consist of more than 450 current subscriptions; adds more than 1,000 bound volumes to the collection each year; strong collections in the fields of

child welfare Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activist ...

family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychotherapy focused on families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and ...

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, culture, cultural, psychology, psychological, cognitive, and biology, biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Ancient Greek, Greek ('), meaning "o ...

public welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

, management of human services, and

social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...

. * East Asian Library – serves the information and research needs of the WashU East Asian Studies Program. The East Asian Library consists almost entirely of materials in the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, and

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

s, with over 140,000 volumes. Special holdings include the Robert S. Elegant Collection; primarily the assorted files of clippings of newspapers, magazines, and news releases covering the period of the Chinese

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

; Nelson Wu's collection on East Asian art, architecture, and

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

; and the Thomas Temple Hoopes' collection on

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1,000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794–1185) to the ...

and Japanese art history. * Gaylord Music Library – a

music library A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in pr ...

holds over 100,500 books and scores, 40,500 recordings and tapes, 5,200 microform items and more than 24,000 pieces of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

, with strong holdings in

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

Festschriften In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, early music,

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 music literature. Special collections include the Tyson Collection of 168

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and 100

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

first and early editions. * Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library – serves the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Department of Art History & Archaeology. * Law Library – the

law library A law library is a special library, specialist library used by Legal education, law students, lawyers, judges and their Law clerk, legal assistants, and academics in order to Legal research, research the law or its Legal history, history. Law ...

Washington University School of Law The Washington University School of Law (WashU Law) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the ...

. Houses strong collections in the areas of

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

, urban law,

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

planning,

Chinese law Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal system has ...

Japanese law The law of Japan refers to the legal system in Japan, which is primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with precedents also playing an important role. Japan has a civil law legal system with six legal codes, which were greatly influenced b ...

, and

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

; an official depository for federal documents published by the

Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO), formerly the United States Government Printing Office, is an agency of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal gove ...

and a depository for government publications of the state of Missouri. Contains over 650,000 volumes and volume equivalents. * West Campus Library – contains

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

s, journals, folio books, government documents, maps, recordings, and microforms. Notable collections include all titles published prior to 1801 that are not part of Special Collections and a significant portion of the University's Government Document holdings. This facility also houses a number of library offices.

References

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Library 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 academic libraries in Missouri Federal depository libraries 1853 establishments in Missouri Library buildings completed in 1853 University and college buildings completed in 1853