<p>The best library in the country is the St. Anselm's Abbey School Library. Where else can you find Br. Marvin and his wacky schemes?</p>
<p>The University of California library system is second in size only to the Library of Congress - not bad, by anyone's standards</p>
<p>Refer to everyone's previous posts about how the numbers are skewed by many multiples across libraries and even in libraries. Kthxbye</p>
<p>^ .....huh?</p>
<p>He means how many of these volumes are actually different volumes? How many are the same? It would be more useful to actually have a number of the amount of different volumes in the library.</p>
<p>Speaking of the Library of Congress, I believe all or most of the DC schools have walk-in access due to proximity; but I also believe they can have the books delivered and returned via their university library, in the same way that other schools do with inter-library loans. Hard to beat access to the Library of Congress.</p>
<p>Personally my favorite library has to be the one at Hogwarts. Books that fight back.</p>
<p>UC Benz, when a university lists their volumes, they mean titles. So it is different books. For example, Harvard has 16 million titles. UCLA has 8 million titles etc...</p>
<p>Thanks for correcting me Alexandre.</p>
<p>And hayden, it's impossible to check stuff out of the Library of Congress.</p>
<p>Fordham University's Rose Hill Library is quite new and not very well known yet, but is absolutely one of the best of the universities in the country.</p>
<p>FURAMS> You're commenting on a thread from 2005...</p>
<p>I believe this is the more accurate list, and it does not rank in regard to size.</p>
<p>1 Harvard University</p>
<p>2 Princeton University</p>
<p>3 Duke University</p>
<p>4 College of New Jersey</p>
<p>5 Cornell University</p>
<p>6 Brigham Young University (BYU)</p>
<p>7 Loyola University New Orleans</p>
<p>8 College of William and Mary</p>
<p>9 University of Chicago</p>
<p>10 Columbia University</p>
<p>11 Wesleyan University</p>
<p>12 Whitman College</p>
<p>13 Furman University</p>
<p>14 Mount Holyoke College</p>
<p>15 Emory University</p>
<p>16 University of TexasAustin</p>
<p>17 Case Western Reserve University</p>
<p>18 Colgate University</p>
<p>19 University of Virginia</p>
<p>20 West Virginia University</p>
<p>why isn’t NYU mentioned ANYWHERE?! It was the nicest/largest library I have seen… i thought they said it was ranked number 6 on the tour</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>HYPS doesn’t have it, but the YPCPDBC (that is, the Ivy League, minus Harard) has an inter-library loan system does. As an undergrad I got books sent to me from Yale and Princeton (being sure to put a post-it note that said “Puck Frinceton” in those books ;))</p>
<p>I have not yet read the PR criteria, and I agree there are other important features of library quality besides size. But how do you fairly, objectively measure them? How do you weigh the value of robotic retrieval, a feature that someone else mentioned but that I don’t especially care about (not that I’m anti-technology, but it sounds like a gimmick and I’d rather see the money go into books).</p>
<p>So I’m with Alexandre. As he points out, an institution that pours money into assembling massive collections very likely also will have excellent facilities. Number of volumes is, if nothing else, a convenient, fair, and relevant metric. For scholarship, though, size really does matter. It’s not just about bragging rights. It’s about the likelihood of finding materials on some subject at the boundaries of what is already known.</p>
<p>I think Whitman College is a fine school and I don’t doubt they have an excellent library. I do seriously doubt, however, that its library ranks up there with Harvard’s massive system.</p>
<p>Having said all that, I admit I’ve been in smaller libraries where I’d rather spend my study time than in Harvard’s Widener (as I remember it from years ago). Middlebury College, for example, has a beautifully designed new library.</p>
<p>One of the best features of the large library system at a large university is that every major department will have a significant library of their own in the building or adjacent to it where that department is housed. It will be staffed by people expert in that major area and also have most of the important journals and other materials for that major in one handy place. Alos a great place to meet others in your major. Helps make a large school feel smaller.
Here’s a list of the UW Madison libraries and hours for the major ones</p>
<p>Art Library (Kohler)
160 Conrad A. Elvehjem Building, 263-2258
Specialties: Art, architecture, design, decorative arts, graphics arts and photography</p>
<p>Historical Society Library
Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street Mall, 264-6535
Specialties: North American and Wisconsin History, genealogy, politics and related subjects, government publications, newspapers, and women’s and ethnic studies. The library contains over 2.3 million items in the field of American history. The collection of nearly 10,000 general-interest newspapers, dating from the 18th - 21st centuries, is the second largest in the country after the Library of Congress.</p>
<p>Memorial Library
728 State Street Mall, 262-3193
Memorial Library is the principal research facility on campus for the social sciences and humanities. It is also the largest library in the state of Wisconsin with more than 3.5 million volumes. Patrons from all over the world total more than 1 million visits each year. Specialized collections at Memorial include an extensive Periodicals collections, a large selection of domestic and foreign newspapers, Special Collections, and an InfoLab (Currently closed for renovation).</p>
<p>Music Library (Mills)
B162 Memorial Library, 263-1884
Specialties: Music books and journals, scores, recordings and videocasettes.</p>
<p>Ruth Ketterer Harris (Textiles & Design) Library
341 Human Ecology Building, 262-2651
Open during the academic year only. Specialties: Non-circulating materials on textiles, fiber arts, costume and design.</p>
<p>Special Collections
976 Memorial Library, 262-3243
Specialties: Rare books, manuscripts, printed ephemera, other special collections and exhibits.</p>
<p>Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research
412 Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street Mall, 264-6466
Specialties: Manuscripts, stills and clippings. Film viewing by advance appointment only.
Biology Library
B164 Birge Hall, 262-2740
Specialties: Biology, botany, ecology, natural history and zoology.</p>
<p>Ebling Library (Health Sciences)
Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Avenue, 262-2020
Specialties: Basic and clincical biomedical sciences, neurosciences, biotechnology, history of health sciences, nursing, pharmacy, pharmacology, toxicology, allied health and health administration.</p>
<p>Herbarium Library
158 Birge Hall, 262-2792
Specialties: Non-circulating books, journals, reprints on plant taxonomy, geography, evolution and lesser subjects, such as ethnobotany, paleobotany, trees/forestry, weeds; maps, atlases, gazetteers and geographical indices.</p>
<p>Limnology Library (Center for Limnology)
211 Limonology Laboratory, 262-4439
Specialties: Non-circulating materials on fresh water and marine biology, fisheries and lake ecology.</p>
<p>Primate Research Center Library (Jacobsen)
1220 Capitol Court, 263-3512
Specialties: Relevant materials in biomedical sciences, neuroscience, molecular biology, psychology, behavior, conservation and ecology, animal welfare, veterinary medicine, primatology, reproductive physiology, stem cell research and ethics.</p>
<p>Steenbock Library (Agriculture & Life Sciences)
550 Babcock Drive, 262-9635
Specialties: Agriculture, life sciences, natural resources, veterinary medicine, family resources and consumer sciences. University Archives and Records Management is located within Steenbock. Steenbock offers instructional programs, reserve reading and photocopy services. Facilities include group study rooms, an audio-visual center and an InfoLab with 66 workstations.</p>
<p>Water Resources Library
238 Goodnight Hall, 262-3069
Specialties: Water resources with an emphasis on Wisconsin and the Great Lakes</p>
<p>Astronomy Library (Woodman)
6521 Sterling Hall, 262-1320
Specialties: Astronomy and astrophysics.</p>
<p>Chemistry Library
2361 Chemistry Building, 262-2942
Specialties: Analytical, inorganic, organic, physical and theoretical Chemistry.</p>
<p>Geography Library
280 Science Hall, 262-1706
Specialties: Geography, cartography and GIS (Geographic Information Systems).</p>
<p>Geology & Geophysics Library
440 Weeks Hall, 262-8956
Specialties: Geology, geophysics and oceanography.</p>
<p>Mathematics Library (Kleene)
B224 Van Vleck, 262-3596
Specialties: Pure and applied mathematics, some statistics and computer science.</p>
<p>Physics Library
4220 Chamberlin Hall, 262-9500
Specialties: All areas of physics, including nuclear, atomic, molecular, high energy, condensed matter, mathematical, plasma and some astrophysics.</p>
<p>Plant Pathology Library
584 Russell Laboratories, 262-8698
Specialties: Plant pathology, virology and physiology.</p>
<p>Wendt Library (Engineering)
215 North Randall Avenue, 262-3493
Specialties: Engineering, atmospheric and oceanic sciences, statistics and computer sciences. Special Collections include U.S. patents and a Technical Reports Center. It also houses a 30-workstation InfoLab and offers a number of library instructional programs</p>
<p>American Indian Studies Program Resource Center
Room 338 Ingraham Hall, 263-5501
Specialties: Films, music, periodicals and books relating to Native American Indian culture.</p>
<p>Archives (UW-Madison)
425 Steenbock Library , 262-5629
Specialties: Archives and publications from the administrators, faculty, staff and students of the UW-Madison, UW System, and UW-Extension; photographs and memorabilia, manuscripts, oral history, and records management.</p>
<p>Business Library
2200 Grainger Hall, 262-5935
Specialties: Accounting, business, finance, marketing, management, real estate and insurance. The library also has 12 group study rooms and two seminar halls.</p>
<p>Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
4290 Helen C. White Hall, 263-3720
Specialties: Children’s literature research library and book examination center for adults. Non-circulating historical, contemporary, multicultural, regional alternative press and reference materials.</p>
<p>Data & Program Library Service
3308 Social Science, 262-0750
Specialties: Reference service and archive for social science numeric data sets.</p>
<p>Journalism Reading Room
2130 Vilas Hall, 263-3387
Specialties: Journalism, mass communications, mass communications law, advertising, public relations and photojournalism.</p>
<p>L&S Learning Support Services (LSS)
259 Van Hise Hall, 262-1408
Specialties: AV instructional materials in more than 100 languages; English as a Second Language; music, sciences, social sciences and other L&S subjects; live foreign language satellite broadcasts; open access student computer lab with 43 workstations.</p>
<p>Law Library
Law School Building, 975 Bascom Mall, 262-1128
Specialties: U.S., Wisconsin, foreign and international law; criminal justice.</p>
<p>Map Library (Arthur H. Robinson)
310 Science Hall, 262-1471
Specialties: Maps and aerial photography, geography, cartography and GIS (Geographic Information Systems).</p>
<p>Max Kade Institute for Germanic-American Studies
901 University Bay Drive, 262-7546
Specialties: German-American and reference materials.</p>
<p>Media, Education Resources, and Information Technology (MERIT) - formerly CIMC
301 Teacher Education Building, 263-4750
Specialties: Teacher education, instruction and children’s print and non-print materials. The library also has a computer lab and media.</p>
<p>School of Library & Information Studies Library
4191 Helen C. White Hall, 263-2960
Specialties: Library and information science and children’s literature.</p>
<p>Social Science Reference Library (Somers)
8432 Social Science, 262-6195
Specialties: Industrial relations, economics, sociology and some anthropology.</p>
<p>Social Work Library (Franks)
236 School of Social Work Building, 263-3840
Specialties: Social work, aging, family problems, child abuse, mental retardation, aging/gerontology, human sexuality, AIDS, counseling, minorities and alcohol and drug abuse.</p>
<p>Libraries Open Now
Library Tuesday December 01, 2009
American Indian Studies Library 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Art Library 8:00 am - 9:45 pm
Astronomy Library 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
Biology Library 9:00 am - 7:45 pm
Business Library 8:00 am - 1:00 am
CCBC 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Center for Cooperatives 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Chemistry Library 8:00 am - 9:00 pm
College Library 24 hours
Ebling Library 7:30 am - 11:45 pm
Geography Library 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Geology and Geophysics Library 8:30 am - 9:00 pm
Historical Society 8:00 am - 9:00 pm
Law Library 8:00 am - 12:00 am
Learning Support Services 8:30 am - 7:00 pm
Library and Information Studies Library 8:00 am - 8:30 pm
Math Library 8:30 am - 8:30 pm
Memorial Library 8:00 am - 11:45 pm
MERIT Library - formerly CIMC 8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Mills Music Library (Charles H.) 8:30 am - 10:00 pm
Physics Library 8:00 am - 9:00 pm
Plant Pathology Library 9:00 am - 12:45 pm
Primate Center Library 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Robinson Map Library 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Social Science Reference Library 8:45 am - 7:00 pm
Social Work Library 8:30 am - 6:30 pm
Special Collections 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Steenbock Library 8:00 am - 1:00 am
University Archives and Records Management Services 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Wendt Library 7:30 am - 1:00 am
Women’s Studies Librarian’s Office 8:00 am - 5:00 pm</p>
<p>This may be interesting to the conversation:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Chicago alumni give $25 million in support of new Library | The University of Chicago](<a href=“http://www.uchicago.edu/features/20080512_library.shtml]University”>http://www.uchicago.edu/features/20080512_library.shtml)</p>
<p>^^ Interesting! I will definitely check out UChicago’s new library when it’s completed next fall.</p>
<p>In addition, since there is not much mentioning of the top college libraries in terms of functionalities and user-friendiness, I would like to share with you all for the ‘Ns’ times, the $109 million dollars newly renovated William Oxley Thompson library at TOSU. New Video clips I found on youtube
[YouTube</a> - Ohio State’s Thompson Library: History and Architecture](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTtsljAbXUc]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTtsljAbXUc)
and
<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVxmjIzBgA[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVxmjIzBgA</a>
Enjoy!~ ;P</p>
<p>Just to join in with what ilovebagels said, inter-library loan in the Ivy League is really killer. I get Brown’s 3 million volumes (and really, 90% of the time that doesn’t even matter because all I care about are the online subscriptions), and the three times in the last 5 years Brown didn’t have the paper, I was able to request it for free and received a PDF scanned in my email box within 2 business days.</p>
<p>Gotta love employing students at other Ivies to scan my articles for me.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While I agree that PR rankings are useless, I don’t think it’s possible to assemble a ranking of the “best” college libraries unless you define best solely by criterion 1). Criteria 2) and 3) are, in my personal experience–from making the special effort to visit every single library at the 20+ schools I’ve visited–NOT universal across all top universities. However, the differences are in subjective details. For example, lots of people love Cornell’s library; I find the setting sterile and cold, though modern and clean. Wrt accessibility, consider various library consortia (speed of ILL, more/less books available than evident from data) and library policies like open/closed stacks (I prefer the former, because it helps with topical research) or the food policy (being able to snack while studying is a plus).</p>
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<p>A preview of what’s to come when they fetch my coffee…and bagel of course ;)</p>