University of Michigan Library

University of Michigan Library. The University of Michigan library system is one of the largest in the United States, with over 12 million volumes and a wide range of digital resources, including JSTOR, ProQuest, and EBSCO Information Services. The library serves the University of Michigan community, including students, faculty, and staff, as well as visitors from around the world, such as Harvard University and Stanford University. The library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, and it participates in the HathiTrust Digital Library and the Digital Public Library of America.

● History

The University of Michigan Library was founded in 1838, with a collection of just over 900 volumes, including works by William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Alexander Pope. Over the years, the library has grown and evolved, with significant contributions from Andrew Carnegie, John Jacob Astor, and Henry Clay Frick. The library's first building, the University of Michigan Graduate Library, was completed in 1883 and featured a reading room designed by William Le Baron Jenney. In the early 20th century, the library began to expand its collections, acquiring rare books and manuscripts, including works by Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Dickinson, as well as the Gutenberg Bible and the Bay Psalm Book. The library also established relationships with other institutions, such as the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

● Collections

The University of Michigan Library has a vast and diverse collection of materials, including over 12 million volumes, 120,000 serials, and 1.5 million electronic books, including titles from Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Springer Science+Business Media. The library's collections include rare books and manuscripts, such as the Walt Whitman Collection and the Abraham Lincoln Collection, as well as extensive holdings in Asian studies, African studies, and Latin American studies, with materials from University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. The library also has a strong collection of government documents, including materials from the United States Government Printing Office, the European Union, and the United Nations. Additionally, the library provides access to a wide range of digital resources, including online databases and e-journals from Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis.

● Facilities

The University of Michigan Library has several facilities on campus, including the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, the Graduate Library, and the Hatcher Graduate Library, which offer a range of study spaces, including quiet areas, group study rooms, and computer labs with software from Microsoft, Adobe Systems, and Autodesk. The library also has a number of specialized facilities, such as the Map Library, the Art Library, and the Music Library, which provide access to unique materials and equipment, including GIS software from Esri and music notation software from Avid Technology. The library's facilities are designed to support the academic and research needs of the University of Michigan community, with partnerships with University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Purdue University.

● Services

The University of Michigan Library offers a wide range of services to support the academic and research needs of the University of Michigan community, including research assistance from librarians with expertise in University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The library provides access to a range of digital tools and resources, including citation management software from Thomson Reuters and Mendeley, and data analysis software from IBM and SAS Institute. The library also offers a number of instructional programs and workshops, including information literacy classes and research skills training, with collaborations with University of California, Los Angeles, New York University, and University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, the library provides support for scholarly publishing and digital scholarship, with partnerships with University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

● Organization

The University of Michigan Library is organized into several departments and units, including the Library Administration, the Collection Development Department, and the Information Technology Department, with affiliations with American Library Association, Association of College and Research Libraries, and Society of American Archivists. The library is led by the Dean of Libraries, who reports to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of Michigan, and works closely with other units on campus, such as the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and the University of Michigan Press. The library also has a number of advisory committees and working groups, including the Library Advisory Committee and the Digital Scholarship Working Group, which provide input and guidance on library policies and initiatives, with input from University of Southern California, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University.