College of DuPage Library

The College of DuPage Library seeks to be a model of distinction for community college librarianship. Located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the Library’s mission is to be a high quality teaching facility that supports the educational goals and purposes of the College of DuPage.

The College offers 35 degree programs, 54 certificate programs and a wide array of continuing education, non-credit courses/workshops to students of all ages. The College community includes about 31,000 students and 1,600 faculty and staff who use the College facilities in various capacities.

Location

The Library is physically based on the main campus of the College in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, located in the western suburbs of metropolitan Chicago, but it also provides services to the College’s off-campus Regional Centers and Centers for Independent Learning. The College district includes over 1 million residents in a convert|357|sqmi|km2|sing=on area covering DuPage County and parts of adjacent Cook and Will counties. The library’s community includes all residents of college district 502 who, since the college’s founding in 1967, have had free and open access to the library and its collections.

Mission

The mission of the College of DuPage Library is to be a high quality teaching library that supports the educational goals and purposes of the college. The Library is dedicated to providing onsite and remote access to resources, instruction, and services that support the academic program and the general information needs, diverse cultural interests, intellectual development, and professional growth of the entire college community.

Collections

The Library collection includes 200,000+ individual titles, 900 periodical titles, 100+ databases of articles and information, 14,500 musical recordings, 690 audiobooks, 13,000 instructional videos, and an extensive rental video collection.

The Library faculty provide a comprehensive program of information literacy that promotes library research skills in conjunction with critical thinking skills. In 2004-2005 the Library provided assignment and subject based instruction in the classroom to more than 23,000 students. A number of additional Smart Online Searcher (SOS) research and Internet workshops are offered free to anyone in the community.

The Library provides 24/7 access to the Library’s catalog, electronic databases, and Library Web page resources including Research Guides, text and video tutorials and instruction on a number of information search topics. It also assists patrons in its College and Career Information Center which provides a source for information about colleges, careers and job-hunting techniques.

Community

The Library community also encompasses partnerships and participation with various community-based organizations as well as state and national library organizations. The Library’s Philanthopy Center is an example of the Library’s partnership with the Donors Forum of Chicago.

The Library prides itself on its commitment to training future library professionals. Its residency in community college librarianship is a program designed to offer a two-year intensive, mentored experience in community college librarianship to a recent library school graduate.

It also provides resources and facilities for the College’s Library Technical Assistance (LTA) certificate program.

Teleconferences

Since 1998, the Library has reached more than 1000 public, school, academic and special libraries internationally with continuing education teleconferences to support staff development. These teleconferences deal with cutting edge issues and utilize the talents of nationally known leaders. They also offer a cost-effective way to support the continuing education needs of library staff working in all types of libraries.

Awards

The Library strives to develop and share innovation, learn from others, and assess its services to deliver quality services valued by and accessible to all types of users. In January 2000 the Library received the Excellence in Academic Libraries Award, sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries and Blackwells’ Book Services.

External links

* [http://www.cod.edu/library Official Website]
* [http://lrc.cod.edu/ C.O.D. Library catalog]