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The Stanford University Libraries (SUL), formerly known as "Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources" ("SULAIR"), is the library system of
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. It encompasses more than 24 libraries in all. Several academic departments and some residences also have their own libraries.


Major libraries

The main library in the SU library system is
Green Library The Cecil H. Green Library (commonly known as Green Library) is the main library on the Stanford University campus and is part of the SUL system. It is named for Cecil H. Green. Green Library houses 4 million volumes, most of which are relate ...
, which also contains various meeting and conference rooms, study spaces, and reading rooms.
Lathrop Library The Lathrop Library is one of several libraries at Stanford University in California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximat ...
is a 24-hour library which holds various student-accessible media resources, particularly those intended for undergraduates. It also houses one of the world's largest
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
collections. The
Hoover Institution Library and Archives The Hoover Institution Library and Archives is a research center and archival repository located at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. Built around a collection amassed by Stanford graduate Herbert Hoover prio ...
is an archive and research center largely focused on documents of 20th century history. The Hoover Institution Library and Archives (not to be confused with the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
think tank) is a part of SUL but has its own board of overseers.


History

The earliest library at Stanford was in the northeast corner of the inner quadrangle. It was housed in one large room capable of accommodating 100 readers. This was replaced in 1900 by a separate building on the outer quadrangle, named the
Thomas Welton Stanford Thomas Welton Stanford (1832–1918), also known as Welton Stanford, was an American-born Australian businessman, spiritualist and philanthropist, most notably toward Stanford University, which was founded by his older brother Leland Stanford. A ...
Library after its major donor, Leland Stanford's younger brother. This library was soon recognized as being too small, and a new larger library in a separate building was begun; however, it was destroyed in the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
before it could be completed. A major new library was approved in 1913 and completed in 1919. This building forms the older portion of the current Green Library. In 1980, a larger annex was added and the library was renamed for
Cecil Howard Green Cecil Howard Green (August 6, 1900 – April 11, 2003) was a British-born American geophysicist, electrical engineer, and electronics manufacturing executive, who trained at the University of British Columbia and the Massachusetts Institute of Tec ...
. The original part of the building is now known as the Bing Wing for
Peter Bing Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
, who donated a substantial amount of money for fixing it after the 1989
Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
. In early years the acquisition of books and other materials for the libraries was dependent on donations and on the often limited general fund budget. But in 1905
Jane Stanford Jane Elizabeth Lathrop Stanford (August 25, 1828 – February 28, 1905) was an American philanthropist, co-founder of Stanford University in 1885 (opened 1891) along with her husband, Leland Stanford, as a memorial to their only child, Leland St ...
directed that after her death, her jewels should be sold and the funds used as a permanent endowment "to be used exclusively for the purchase of books and other publications." The board of trustees confirmed this arrangement, and the Jewel Fund was established in 1908. It has been augmenting the university's library collections for more than 100 years. The endowment, originally $500,000, is now worth about $20 million. Items purchased through the Jewel Fund display a distinctive bookplate which shows a romanticized Jane Stanford offering her jewels to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Since 2007, benefactors who provide endowments for library acquisitions are referred to as members of the Jewel Society. In 1908 Stanford acquired the Cooper Medical College in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, together with the 30,000 volume collection of the Levi C. Lane Medical Library Trust, as well as a building site and funds provided in Dr. Lane's will. The
Lane Medical Library Lane Medical Library is the library of the Stanford University School of Medicine at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California. Its mission is to "accelerate scientific discovery, clinical care, medical education and humanities through teach ...
was dedicated on November 3, 1912; it was an integral part of the Stanford library system despite being located in San Francisco. It was moved to the main Stanford campus along with the medical school in 1959.
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
, who later became
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, was involved in humanitarian and relief efforts in Europe before, during and after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. This gave him the opportunity to amass a collection of documents relating to the war, the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, and other historical developments of the early 20th century. Starting in 1919 he donated the collected materials to Stanford, his alma mater, along with funds to maintain and develop the documents, called the Hoover War Collection and later the Hoover War Library. The documents were initially housed within the main Stanford Library, but by 1929 the collection had reached 1.4 million items and storage was becoming a problem. In 1941
Hoover Tower Hoover Tower is a structure on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. The tower houses the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, an archive collection founded by Herbert Hoover before he became President of the United Stat ...
was completed as a repository for the growing collection, which was eventually renamed the
Hoover Institution and Library on War, Revolution and Peace The Hoover Institution Library and Archives is a research center and archival repository located at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. Built around a collection amassed by Stanford graduate Herbert Hoover prio ...
. The
J. Henry Meyer Memorial Library The J. Henry Meyer Memorial Library was a library at Stanford University in California. It was dedicated on December 2, 1966. In 2007, a seismic assessment identified $45 million in required retrofits, more than the cost of a new library elsewhe ...
, or Undergraduate Library, was dedicated in 1966 and closed in 2014. It was named for J. Henry Meyer, a San Francisco businessman and early supporter of Stanford, whose children were major donors toward its construction. It was replaced in 2014 by the
Lathrop Library The Lathrop Library is one of several libraries at Stanford University in California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximat ...
. In the 1980s it was proposed to establish the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the president and first lady, Nancy Reagan. It is the larg ...
at Stanford. His records from eight years as governor of California were already on campus, in the Hoover Institution library. After extensive negotiation with Reagan's advisors, the Board of Trustees in 1984 approved the placement of the Reagan library and museum on the campus. A 20-acre site near the Stanford golf course was earmarked for the facility. However, the proposal foundered over the plan by Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation officials to include a public affairs research center and think tank as part of the facility, which Stanford's trustees said would be unacceptable, and the idea was dropped in 1987. The Reagan library, complete with public affairs center, was built in
Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...
, opening in 1991. The records of his governorship were transferred there from Hoover in 2000.


Collections

The libraries hold a collection of nearly 12 million items, 260,000 rare or special books, 3 million e-books, 1.5 million audiovisual materials, 75,000 serials, 6 million microform holdings, and thousands of other digital resources, making it one of the largest and most diverse academic library systems in the world. Starting in 2004 the Stanford libraries have collaborated with Google in digitizing hundreds of thousands of books from the Stanford collections and making them available to readers worldwide at no charge. Other significant collections include the
Lane Medical Library Lane Medical Library is the library of the Stanford University School of Medicine at Stanford University, near Palo Alto, California. Its mission is to "accelerate scientific discovery, clinical care, medical education and humanities through teach ...
, Terman Engineering Library, Jackson Business Library, Falconer Biology Library, Cubberley Education Library,
Branner Earth Sciences Library The Branner Earth Sciences Library and Map Collections is the main library supporting the Stanford University School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences on the Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior U ...
, Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, Jonsson Government Documents collection (SUL has been a Federal Depository Library since 1895, a California depository and depository for several Intergovernmental Organizations like the IMO, World Bank, EU, OECD etc.), Crown Law Library, Center for Ocean Solutions Research Library, Stanford Auxiliary Library (SAL), SLAC Library, Hoover library, Miller Marine Biology Library at Hopkins Marine Station, Music Library, and the university's special collections. Stanford University has also developed a significant African collection, which includes the Maps of Africa Collection. This collection became recognized in 2001 with the acquisition of the Oscar I Norwich collection and subsequent acquisitions in 2010 and 2011. Today the Maps of Africa collection includes 859 maps.


Services

Digital libraries and text services include digital image collections, the Humanities Digital Information Services group, and the Media Microtext Center. The
Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...
produces over 175 books each year. There are 150,000 computers on the Stanford University Network, including clusters of printer-enabled computers in every undergraduate residence (the first residential computing program), as well as high-performance
computer cluster A computer cluster is a set of computers that work together so that they can be viewed as a single system. Unlike grid computers, computer clusters have each node set to perform the same task, controlled and scheduled by software. The comp ...
s for general use throughout the campus. Stanford is a founding and charter member of
CENIC The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC ( )) is a nonprofit corporation formed in 1997 to provide high-performance, high-bandwidth networking services to California universities and research institutions. Through t ...
, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, the nonprofit organization that provides extremely high-performance Internet-based networking to California's K-20 research and education community.


References


External links


Stanford University Libraries website
{{Authority control Stanford University libraries Libraries in Santa Clara County, California University and college academic libraries in the United States Library buildings completed in 1899 Library buildings completed in 1966 1899 establishments in California