West Virginia University Downtown Library

The West Virginia University Downtown Library is located between Clark Hall (current Department of Chemistry) and White Hall (future Department of Physics) on the Downtown Campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. It is one of four libraries: Evansdale, Law, and Health Sciences. The building consists of two separate libraries – Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library and Downtown Library. Since the origin of the Downtown/Wise Library, the complex has gained four floors of study rooms and computer workstations, rare collections housed in the Wise section of the library and a coffee shop.

Brief History

The West Virginia University Downtown Library was built in 1931. The original campus library was located in Stewart Hall, a beautiful Romanesque style building; however, the small size of Stewart Hall could not accommodate the growing student population, and University President John Roscoe Turner, among other university supporters, sought to build a new library. The University Library was then built on the former property of Israel Charles White which today stands between White Hall and Clark Hall [1] .

In 1984, the University Library was renamed Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library. The Board of Regents chose to rename the library to honor Charles C. Wise, Jr. who was a lawyer and former student body president of WVU that had donated 4,260 acres of land to the WVU Foundation. A dedication ceremony was held on October 1, 1984 [1] .

In December 1996, a meeting was held to discuss a multi-million dollar renovation and addition to the Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library. Located in the front of the original library, this addition encompassed 124,000 square feet with five new levels added (four above ground). The Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library and the new addition are connected by an atrium. A giant skylight filters sunlight into the room, cascading down the original façade of the library [1] . The library was completed in the spring of 2002. [2]

Facilities & Features

The Downtown Library is a state of the art facility centrally located on the Downtown Campus. Since renovations, the library has become not only a haven for those studying for various tests, but for group meetings, media projects, and intensive research. Notable library features of the library include:

• 15 Group study rooms are available located on the lower, 1st, 4th and 6th levels

• Over 300,000 books

• 209,638 Square feet

• 1200 Public seats

• An atrium connecting the 1932 renovated Wise Library to the 2001 Downtown Campus Library

• 2 Restored large reading rooms

• 15 Group study rooms located on the lower, 1st, 4th and 6th levels, 6 with 42-inch high-definition television screen, electronic classrooms keyboard and Internet connections to allow users to participate in e-conferences, view films, and prepare presentations • 180 Public computers

• 35 Media- equipped workstations

• 60 Wireless laptops

• Reading tables with outlets for laptop computers

• Carrels with desktop computers

• Lounge seating

• A view of the downtown campus and Morgantown's waterfront from various study locations

• Entrance and exit ramps make the Library accessible from both Prospect Street and University Avenue make the library compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act

• An Assisted Technology Room is available on the lower level in room 100C also in compliance with ADA regulations

Along with the various library features, the multimedia features have been updated to provide students with the most high-tec equipment possible. Technological features are located on the lower level and include:

* Multimedia, high resolution computers with headphones and equipped with DVD+/-RW drives and DVD/CD-ROM authoring software

* A library-based video/digital server allowing faculty to load non-copyrighted full motion video onto our server for campus-wide distribution

* 60 Wireless laptop computers are available for two hour checkout within the library (At the Media Services desk ont he ground floor and the Periodicals desk on the 2nd floor)

* 6 Multimedia viewing rooms with 42" Plasma screens are available to faculty and students to view videos, DVDs, or create PowerPoint programs for class use

* A 60 seat multimedia viewing classroom can be reserved for classroom instruction

* An AMX voice, video, and data system can playback our collections of non-print materials to individual computer carrels as well as to all the rooms on the Lower Level

Library hours vary throughout the semester. General hours are Monday through Thursday 8am-2am, Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 9am-6pm, and Sunday 1pm-2am

ervices Offered

Interlibrary Loan and Ez Borrow Services

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services are extended to all WVU students, faculty, and staff. ILL and E-ZBorrow can borrow materials from other libraries for you. E-ZBorrow requests books from other academic libraries in the PALCI consortium and generally takes 3-5 days. ILL requests items from libraries all over the world and can take 3 days or more. You may place your ILL request online at http://illiad.lib.wvu.edu/ or before ordering. http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/ezborrow/. You will need to register with ILLiad. ILL and E-ZBorrow requests are usually processed within 24 hours.

Printing and Copying Services

Located on the first floor of the WVU downtown campus library is a printing kiosk which allows you to print from the computers. To use the machines just swipe your Mountaineer Card at the kiosk. Use the touch screen to select a print job and confirm that you want to print it. Printing requires a Mountaineer or copy/printing card to initiate a print job. Users without a Mountaineer card may purchase a copy card for 1 dollar; value can then be added to the card to use for copying and printing . Printing costs six cents, and copying costs seven cents.

Tours

Guided tours are offered by the Reference Department. To set up a tour, please call or stop by the Reference Desk. The phone number is (304) 293- 4040 ext. 4040. You may also take the Virtual Tour.

Beverages/Food

Located on the Fourth floor of the library, is Eliza’s, a coffee shop. Eliza’s offers Starbucks coffee, fruits, bagels, tea, and other foods. It is open Monday- Wednesday 9am- midnight, Thursday 9am-9pm, Friday 9am-2pm, CLOSED on Saturday, and opens again Sunday from 3pm- midnight.

pecial Collections

Appalachian Collection

Located in the James V. and Ann Pozega Milano Reading Room on the third floor of Wise Library, the Appalachian Collections consists of literature of the 13-state region. The collection is named after the Appalachian Mountains which run from New York to Mississippi. Subjects include cultural stories of coal miners, music, pollution, crafts, traditions, wildlife, religion, social conditions, and more. On the WVU Libraries website is a links to search engines, indexes, and other libraries for Appalachian Studies.

Government Information Services

Located on the first floor of the library in the Reference Department, the Government Information Services includes publications in state and federal government. Federal publications are gathered and processed at the Downtown Library and sent to other libraries by subject.

West Virginia and Regional History Collection

Located in the Wise Library, the West Virginia and Regional History Collection houses the largest archive relating to West Virginia. It has the largest collection of West Virginia newspapers and guides to research in folk music, genealogy, and archives/manuscripts, public records and an in-depth bibliography. The collection also has an online digital collection and photographic archives.

Map Room

Located in the rear of the library on the lower level, the map room has over 131,700 maps in three different areas including topographic maps, global maps, and aeronautical and nautical charts. Most maps can be checked out for two weeks at a time.

References

# http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/history/briefhistory.pdf
# http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/history/wise.pdf
# http://www.wvu.edu/
# http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/
# http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/downtown/features