Quick Guide to the Library: Services, Collections, and Policies
[ Services | Collections | Study Space | Other Information ]
Services
- Circulation
Your Lawrence I.D. serves as your library card--be sure to bring it with you to the library. Loan periods are 28 days for books, 14 days for CDs, 7 days for videos and DVDs. Please see the Circulation page for more information.
- Reserves
Books and other materials placed on reserve by professors are available at the north end of the Circulation Desk. Reserve materials circulate for two hours or three days; loan periods for course reserves are designated by the professor.
- Reference
Until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, and Sundays 1:00-10:00 p.m. when school is in session. Assistance is also available during breaks and over the summer during regular library hours.
- Media Services
The central location for musical scores, videos, audio CDs, and language learning materials. The Media collections include over 20,000 audio-visual items and over 14,000 musical scores. Facilities also include video viewing rooms and listening stations.
- Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
For Lawrence students, faculty and staff. You can place a request electronically using our online forms, or you can use the paper forms available in front of the ILL office on the library's first floor.
- Technical Services
Located in the offices at the east end of the first floor, Technical Services is where library materials are ordered, received, cataloged and processed. Without the work of Technical Services you wouldn't be able to find anything in the library.
Collections
- Main Collection and Online Catalog
The Seeley G. Mudd Library contains nearly 400,000 book volumes. Books, as well as journals, CDs, videos, atlases, and more, are cataloged in LUCIA, the library's online catalog.
- New Books
Selections from our new acquisitions will be displayed for a limited time on the shelf between the circulation desk and reference office.
- Music Collections
The music collections currently include over 20,000 audio-visual items and over 14,000 musical scores in addition to reference works and other materials related to music in the main library collections. The Music Librarian can help you with questions relating to any aspect of research in music.
- Electronic Resources
The library is the virtual home of many electronic resources in a variety of forms. These resources include encyclopedias, reference works, indexes to and full-text of journals, and electronic books. Check the page on Library Research for more ideas.
- Periodicals
Seeley G. Mudd Library subscribes to over 1,700 periodicals. Be sure to check LUCIA (the library's online catalog) or the printed periodical lists found throughout the library to verify what the library owns, whether it is in electronic format or paper, and where it is shelved.
- Visual Resources
Located in the Wriston Art Center and online, the Visual Resources Library is the place to go for images in a wide range of subject areas, from ancient architecture and illuminated manuscripts to contemporary art and photography.
- Government Documents
The library receives documents from the United States federal government and from the state of Wisconsin. Special finding aids are needed to locate most federal documents; Wisconsin documents are cataloged in LUCIA. Both federal and Wisconsin documents are located on the library’s second floor.
- Special Non-Circulating Collections
Please see a librarian in order to gain access to the following special collections:
Archives: Located in the "closed stack" area, on the east side of the building.
Milwaukee-Downer Room: Located on first floor near the reference desk.
Lincoln Reading Room: Located on the first floor, in the northeast corner. Contains collections of books and other materials related to Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War.
Study Space
The library offers a variety of study spaces including individual study carrels, group study rooms, seminar rooms, and assignable individual study rooms. For locations of group study rooms, seminar rooms, and individual study rooms see the library maps. The second, third, and fourth floors are designated as quiet study spaces. Study carrels (on all floors of the library) and group study rooms (on the second and third floors) are available on a first-come-first-served basis and cannot be reserved. Periodicals and other library materials left in carrels and rooms which are not checked out will be reshelved daily.
There are several other rooms in the library that are available to Lawrence students, faculty, and staff only. Video classroom 401 can be reserved by calling Tom Sykes in Media Services at x6757. The Lincoln Reading Room and the Milwaukee-Downer Room can be reserved through Trudi van Beuningen-Hamilton at x6964. These rooms can only be reserved by Lawrence students, faculty, and staff.
The library also offers nine individual study rooms that can be reserved for a term at a time by students. Preference is given to seniors working on honors projects. A written request explaining the need for a private study room may be submitted to the library director.
Other Information
- Computers
Pentium personal computers and Macintosh computers for word processing, spreadsheet programs, and more are available in the Information Technology Center (ITC) on the library's second floor, and in the computer carrels on the second, third and fourth floors. Access to the computer carrel requires a Lawrence star key. Library research computers for Internet access and other research use are available on in the reference area on the first floor of the library; please read the library's Acceptable Use Policy before using library computers.
- Copy Machines
Two copy machines are located in the library, one on the first floor and another on the periodicals level. Cost is ten cents per side for an 8 1/2 x 11 copy. Other copying costs:
8 1/2 x 11 copies (available from the periodicals level machine) are fifty cents per side; 11 x 17 black & white copies are twenty cents per side; 11 x 17 color copies are one dollar per side.
- Telephones
Campus telephones are located in the vestible inside the library's entrance and on the second, third, and fourth floors.
- Food and Beverages
Not in the library, please.
- Suggestions and Additional Information
If you are looking for definitions of unfamiliar words related to the library and its resources, take a look at the Glossary of Library Terms. You can always ask a Reference librarian for information or assistance or see the Library's Information and Services page for additional resources.
