Colby College Libraries

The Colby College Libraries are the libraries that support Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The libraries provide access to a merged catalog of more than eight million items via the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin consortium of libraries and MaineCat,^[1], with daily courier service from other libraries in Maine. Another consortium, NExpress, comprising Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Northeastern, Wellesley, and Williams, provides additional access to research materials. Twelve professional librarians provide research assistance to students, faculty, and outside researchers.^[2] Instruction in the use of the library and its research materials is offered throughout the curriculum, from an introduction in beginning English classes to in-depth subject searching using sophisticated tools in upper-level classes.

Miller Library

Miller Library is Colby's main library, which stands at the center of campus. Designed by Jens Frederick Larson of the firm Larson & Wells and modeled after the Baker Memorial Library at Dartmouth College^[3], Miller was built in 1939 and named for the parents of Merton Miller (class of 1890)^[4]; an addition that doubled the size of the original building was opened in 1983. Miller Library houses the humanities and social science collections, study rooms that are open 24 hours, a computer lab, the College archives, and Special Collections.^[5] Miller also contains a computer cluster and study areas that are open around the clock, and is equipped with wireless Internet access.

An open-stack system allows access to the collection with the online catalog and electronic indexes and Internet files are available on library workstations and computers campus-wide. The collection supports all curriculum areas and contains more than 600 currently received print journals, more than 47,000 electronic journals, and domestic and international daily newspapers. The Colby libraries are a repository for U.S. government and Maine state documents.^[6]

The John and Catherine Healy Memorial Room contains the James Augustine Healy Collection of Modern Irish Literature, with inscribed copies, manuscripts, and holograph letters of William Butler Yeats, Sean O’Casey, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, and others. The Healy Collection has 7,000 primary and critical sources representing the Irish Literary Renaissance, 1880-1940. The Alfred King Chapman Room houses the College archives, which hold more than 4,000 manuscript files pertaining to Colby alumni, faculty, and staff dating from 1813 to the present. The archives include an extensive collection of books by Colby graduates and faculty members.^[5]

Special Collections

Miller Library Special Collections houses the College's manuscripts and rare books as well as the College Archives. The collection includes rare books, first editions, manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, and photographic materials. It has achieved international recognition, with some pieces dating back to the 15th century.^[7]

The Edwin Arlington Robinson Memorial Room, named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maine poet, contains his books, manuscripts, letters, and memorabilia. Colby’s Thomas Hardy Collection is one of the most extensive in the country. Other authors represented in the Robinson Room include A. E. Housman, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kenneth Roberts, Henry James, Willa Cather, John Masefield, William Dean Howells, Wesley McNair, and Thomas Mann.^[5]

Bixler Library

The Art and Music Library, in the Bixler Art and Music Center, maintains a collection of art and music books, journals, sound recordings, music scores, a computer lab/listening center, and study spaces. Internet ports and wireless access are provided.

Olin Library

The Science Library, in the F.W. Olin Science Center, houses books, journals, videos, and topographic maps that support programs in the natural sciences, computer science, and mathematics.

References

1. ^ http://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/library/about/policies/Access/infonetpolicy.cfm
2. ^ http://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/catalogue/2009_2010/academic_information/index.cfm
3. ^ "About Miller Library", Colby College website, accessed at http://libguides.colby.edu/hours
4. ^ Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College. Earl Smith, University Press of New England, 2006, p52
5. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/library/special/
6. ^ http://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/library/government-documents.cfm
7. ^ "About Special Collections", Colby website, Library Guide. Accessed at http://libguides.colby.edu/aboutscpeccoll