The Oberlin College Libraries (OCL) is a system of libraries located in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of the ...

comprising the Mary Church Terrell Main Library, Clarence Ward Art Library, Conservatory Library, and Science Library. The recipient of the ACRLbr>Excellence in Academic Libraries Award
in 2002, the Oberlin College Libraries are recognized for superior collections and services. The library system has more than 2.4 million items of print and media materials, as well as extensive online journals and research databases. OCL is a member of the

OhioLINK The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Serving more than 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at 88 institutions with 117 libraries, OhioLINK's ...

consortium which provides rapid access to an additional 50 million volumes from colleges and universities across Ohio. On October 6, 2018 the Main Library located in the Mudd Center, was renamed for Oberlin graduate

Mary Church Terrell Mary Church Terrell (born Mary Eliza Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, and became known as a national activist for civil rights and suffrage. She taught in the Lati ...

(class of 1884, 1888, and Hon. 1948), who is held in high esteem because she was one of the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

women to earn a college degree

History

Under the leadership of college librarian Azariah Smith Root (1887–1927), the Oberlin College Library grew by the end of his tenure to the sixteenth largest academic library in the nation. The former central library, which was funded by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, opened in 1908 and served both the college and the town of Oberlin for almost seven decades. The current main library in Mudd Center opened in 1974. The Oberlin College Library, under the direction of Library Director Eileen Thornton, was a founding member of

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

and under the direction of Ray English was the first independent college library to join the

consortium. The library directors of the

Oberlin Group The Oberlin Group of Libraries is a consortium of liberal arts college libraries. The group evolved from meetings of college presidents in 1985 and 1986 at Oberlin College. , it has 80 members. # Agnes Scott College (GA) #Albion College (MI) #Al ...

, a national consortium of selective liberal arts college libraries, first met at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1986.

Facilities and Services

The Mary Church Terrell Main library, located in Mudd Center, houses the social sciences and humanities collections, special collections, and the Oberlin College Archives. The library system also encompasses th
Conservatory Library
th

th

and a central storage facility. Th

on the main level of Mudd Center opened in 2007 and was dedicated as the Robert S. Lemle ‘75 and Roni Kohen-Lemle ‘76 Academic Commons in 2011. It is a hub of social and academic activity, with spaces for collaborative work and tutoring, in-depth research appointments, learning support services, and technology support in partnership with th
Center for Information Technology
The Academic Commons features an electronic classroom, Azariah's Café, computer workstations, six group study rooms, circulation and reference services, and the Writing Center.

References

External links

Oberlin College Libraries websiteOberlin College Library Records and Administrative HistoryOhioLINK Consortium websiteOberlin Group of LibrariesHistory of Carnegie Library, 1908-2008
{{authority control Oberlin College Libraries in Ohio Library buildings completed in 1908 Carnegie libraries in Ohio Buildings and structures in Lorain County, Ohio University and college academic libraries in the United States 1908 establishments in Ohio Brutalist architecture in Ohio