Princeton University Library - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is headquartered in the Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library building, named after tire magnate

Magnate

Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

Harvey Firestone

Harvey Samuel Firestone was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.-Family background:...

Firestone ibrary

Firestone Library opened in 1948, as the first large American university library constructed after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Roughly 1.5 million volumes were moved during the summer of 1948 from East Pyne Hall, which until then had served as the University's main library. The library building was expanded in 1971 and again in 1988 and currently has more than 70 miles (112.7 km) of bookshelves, making Firestone one of the largest open-stack libraries in existence. Though not the largest university library in the world, the library has more books per enrolled student than that of any other university in the United States.

The Firestone building itself does not appear very large from the outside, because most of its books are stored in three partially-underground levels that extend beyond the footprint of the main building. Firestone has four smaller above-ground floors, the second and fourth of which are accessible only to library staff. Princeton's book collection has outgrown Firestone's present capacity. Therefore, volumes relating to many academic subjects are no longer housed at Firestone, but at approximately a dozen other library buildings or spaces located around the campus.

Firestone contains many study spaces, most prominently the Trustee Reading Room (an open study space bounded on one side by glass panels containing the names of all present and past university trustees and presidents) and the atrium. It also has hundreds of carrels (offices about the size of a large closet) that are reserved for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate seniors working on their theses. Many academic departments also maintain seminar and study rooms within Firestone.

Special Collections

In addition to its open-stack collections, Firestone also houses the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, the Scheide Library, a social science data center, and a variety of library services.

Lewis Science Library

Lewis Science Library, designed by Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry

Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...

, is the campus' newest library building, having opened in the Fall of 2008. Lewis consolidates research collections and staff for the physical and life sciences, as well as maps and geospatial information.

Other Libraries

Other campus libraries include Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, East Asian Library and the Gest Collection, Stokes Library (for Public and International Affairs & Population Research), Mendel Music Library, Architecture Library, Engineering Library, and the Furth Plasma Physics Library. In addition, two annexes in the Princeton University Forrestal

Forrestal Village

Forrestal Village is a , mixed-use retail and office complex in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey along Route 1. It is just north of Princeton University's Forrestal campus, and is named for James Forrestal. The center is anchored by Can Do Fitness and a Westin hotel...

campus are used to store volumes and materials that are less frequently used.

Access to library services

Currently only registered students, alumni, university faculty, staff, their spouses, domestic partners and dependents, students of Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...

, the Institute for Advanced Study

Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...

and visiting faculty are permitted open (free) access and borrowing privileges in the Princeton University library system. In general, non-university patrons may use the library for research but are not given borrowing privileges and must purchase an access card in order to enter and use the library facilities.

External links