The Christopher Center Library Services (previously the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources) is the library on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The Christopher Center is Valparaiso's fourth library and replaces the former Henry F. Moellering Library, which was demolished in 2005 to make way for the forthcoming student union. As a result, the facilities holdings within the Christopher Center are now known as ''The Moellering Collection''.

Construction and architecture

Comprising of space, the building was designed by Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis of

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, which sought to "break the mold" of institutional libraries. Part of a $33 million project, the Christopher Center was made possible through gifts from alumni and friends, including a $16 million gift from Jay Christopher and his wife Doris. Support of the University's ''Three Goals, One Promise'' campaign made construction of the building possible. Among the major donors to the building project are those whose gifts are recognized in special areas of the building. The grid-like structure flanking the south and east sides of the building's exterior provides an interesting appearance for the building while serving as a valuable sun screen. This protects the books from harmful, constant exposure to sun rays and helps soften the sunlight entering the two-story reading room overlooking Resurrection Meadow south of the chapel. At the same time, spaces throughout the facility are bathed in natural light.

Building features

The wireless building accommodates current study preferences by replacing study carrels with soft furniture in "living room" settings, several complete with fireplaces. Food and beverages are available at a café on the premises. There are some 2,400 data ports and 88 wireless access points in the building, all connected by of data cable. Computer clusters are located amply throughout the building, totaling over 250 individual computers available for student use. Sunshades also automatically lower when too much sunlight is entering the building, and raise when it is dark outside. Books and other traditional information resources mix with computers and access to the Internet on every floor. The computer-driven, robotic

Automated Storage and Retrieval System An automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS) consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing and retrieving loads from defined storage locations. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are ty ...

uses space efficiently and allowed the overall shelving capacity in the center to increase to 600,000 volumes without having to increase the size of the building.

Automated storage and retrieval system

Perhaps the best representation of Christopher Center's integration of traditional library services with current technology is the

(ASRS). This combination of robotics and computer system has the capacity to store 300,000 files. Two stories high, the system features bins stacked along two aisles. Materials that are used infrequently by students or faculty are maintained in this location. Larger view of the library When one of the 60,000 items is requested, the robotic system locates and retrieves the publication in about 15 seconds. Using a

bar code A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly refe ...

logged into it, the management computer system runs the robot and simultaneously registers the volume's current location in the one of its 1,872 bins. Designed like a combination car-jack and fork lift, the computer-controlled cranes move along the aisles and up or down the stacks of bins to retrieve the requested material and place it on a tray desk in the main circulation area. Provided by a gift from alumnus Herbert F. Stride, this automated storage and retrieval system is one of the first five installed for use in libraries in the nation.

Collections

The Christopher Center Special Collections have a particular strength in

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

-era

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, with an emphasis on collecting various early editions of the

writings Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

. Included in the general collections are several decades' worth of back issues of journals and government documents. The Center collects official government maps from the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

National Imagery and Mapping Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

, the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. It is an Army Map Service depository for a special collection of 70,000 maps. The collection also contains

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, maps as well as local, state, national and international maps. There are 2,200 LPs in the center's audio/visual collection, ranging from classical to

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, retro and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. In total, there are over 2,300 sound recordings (CDs, LPs, cassette tapes), 1,900 visual recordings (DVDs and VHS tapes), and 1,400 CD-ROMs for academic and recreational purposes.

References

External links

Official WebsiteVirtual Tour of the Christopher Center
{{authority control University and college academic libraries in the United States Valparaiso University Libraries in Indiana Library buildings completed in 2004 Federal depository libraries Buildings and structures in Valparaiso, Indiana