Washington University Libraries is the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

system of Washington University in St. Louis. The system includes 12 libraries and over 5.5 million volumes. The John M. Olin Library is the central library.

Olin Library

Centrally located on the

Danforth Campus The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th Chancellor of t ...

, just west of the Brookings Quadrangle, Olin Library houses general-interest materials and collections in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. It is also a designated federal depository library and houses over 70,000

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

s. Special collections include the literary papers of James Merrill,

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...

, Howard Nemerov, Stanley Elkin,

William Gass William Howard Gass (July 30, 1924 – December 6, 2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven vol ...

, Mona Van Duyn, and many other important writers; the

Washington University Film & Media Archive Washington University Libraries is the library system of Washington University in St. Louis. The system includes 12 libraries and over 5.5 million volumes. The John M. Olin Library is the central library. Olin Library Centrally located on the Dan ...

includes material created by alumnus

Henry Hampton Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. (8 January 1940 – 22 November 1998) was an African-American filmmaker. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary ''Eyes on the Prize,'' which w ...

documenting the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. Built in the early 1960s after a gift from

John M. Olin John Merrill Olin (November 10, 1892 – September 8, 1982) was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin. Early life Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry and as a b ...

and opened in 1962, the John M. Olin Library replaced the University's former main library at Ridgley Hall. In 2004, the Olin Library was rededicated after a comprehensive renovation and an expansion of the main floor. This process took more than three years. The library contains a cafe/coffee shop, study spaces for graduate and undergraduate students, and many general services and administrative offices of the Washington University Libraries.

Washington University Film & Media Archive

The Washington University Film & Media Archive is an archive composed of completed films and videos, most notably ''

Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the 20th-century civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it als ...

'' the definitive documentary on America's

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. The archive also holds numerous materials that went into the creation of other works. The Archive collects photos, interviews, stock footage, producer's research notes, correspondence, treatments, and scripts, all of which provide a distinctive look at the film making at storytelling process for scholars, teachers, filmmakers, and students. Opened in the Fall of 2002, the Film & Media Archive's first acquisition was the

Collection, an archive of the work of one of the most influential African-American filmmakers. For the first time ever, the tens of thousands of materials created by his company

Blackside, Inc. Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. (8 January 1940 – 22 November 1998) was an African-American filmmaker. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary ''Eyes on the Prize,'' which w ...

during the production process became available for study. The Archive has expanded from its inaugural collection to include the collection of filmmaker

Bill Miles William Miles (April 18, 1931 - May 12, 2013) was an American filmmaker. Born in Harlem, New York, he used his deep knowledge and experience of that iconic neighborhood to produce films that tell unique and often inspiring stories of Harlem's hi ...

, the St. Louis Public School's educational films, and material from Insignia Films' ''Reporting America at War'' series. It continues to grow, focusing on collecting film archives that examine the great social movements of American history and African-American life and culture, and supporting documentary studies. In addition to acquiring collections of major historical importance, the Archive preserves and organizes these materials, publicizes them, and creates related educational and outreach programs.

Documenting Ferguson

Following the

Shooting of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson, who later stated that Brow ...

, Washington University Libraries implemented a crowd-sourced digital repository to collected ephemeral documentation of the

Ferguson unrest The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) were a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Bro ...

calle
"Documenting Ferguson"
The collection accepts submissions of written testimony, images, and video related to the protests.

Bernard Becker Medical Library

Located on the

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...

campus, Becker Library serves the Washington University School of Medicine, the

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component ...

, and the

St. Louis Children's Hospital St. Louis Children's Hospital is a dedicated pediatric hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a primary service region covering six states. As the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's Ho ...

. The mission of the Becker Medical Library is to provide information resources and technology in support of the educational, research and patient care objectives of the School of Medicine. The library contains over 146,000 volumes, along with over 9,100 print and electronic journal titles. Becker Medical Library is organized into several departments which play unique roles in serving the Washington University School of Medicine community, including: Archives and Rare Books, Collection Management Services, Health Information Resources (Reference), and Translational Research Support.Becker Library Departments and Staff
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Leadership

Shirley K. Baker served as dean of Washington University Libraries from 1989 until her retirement on June 30, 2012. Her replacement, Jeffrey Trzeciak, served from July 1, 2012 until July 21, 2016. After being led on an interim basis by Marion G. Crain, a Vice Provost and Professor of Law at Washington University, Denise Stephens took over as University Librarian and Vice Provost on June 15, 2017.

Specialty libraries

Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library
- serves the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Department of Art History & Archaeology. * '
Kopolow Business Library
'' - serves the Olin Business School. Databases provided by

Moody's Moody's Investors Service, often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody's Investors Service provides internationa ...

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

Hoover's D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990Solomon, Steve.The Dynamic Duo" '' Inc.''. October 15, 1997. Retrieved on April 7, 2014. as an American business research company that provided information on companies and indu ...

, and Disclosure; receives comprehensive real-time stock and other market information through the

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

and

Bridge Information Systems Bridge Information Systems was a financial news and data provider that was acquired by Reuters Group in September 2001.(9 April 2001)Reuters eyes Bridge ''CNN Money'' History The origins of Bridge date to 1974, when the original company was found ...

; maintains a book collection of around 30,000 volumes and subscriptions to more than 400 major business journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Chemistry Library
- serves mainly th
Chemistry Department
and other university science departments. The library provides access to many print and online industry journals, including those published by the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', '' Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...

, and Wiley.
Digital Gateway
- serves as a single point of entry for discovery of all

digital collection A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, ...

s available at WUSTL, provides a similar single point of entry for anyone in the WUSTL community interested in developing digital projects.
Ronald Rettner Earth and Planetary Sciences Library

East Asian Library
- serves the information and research needs of the WUSTL East Asian Studies Program. The East Asian Library consists almost entirely of materials in the Chinese, Japanese, and

Korean language Korean (South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographica ...

s, with over 140,000 volumes. Special holdings include the Robert S. Elegant Collection; primarily the assorted files of clippings of newspapers, magazines, and news releases covering the period of the Chinese

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

;

Nelson Wu Nelson Ikon Wu (9 June 1919 – 19 Mar 2002) was a Chinese and American writer and professor of Asian art history. Biography Born June 9, 1919, in Peking, Wu earned a bachelor's degree from the National Southwest Associated University in ...

's collection on East Asian art, architecture, and

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

; and the Thomas Temple Hoopes' collection on

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794 – 1185) to t ...

and Japanese art history.
Law Library
- the law library of

Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is c ...

. Houses strong collections in the areas of

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

urban law Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

environmental law Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental Legal doctrine, legal principles, focu ...

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

planning,

Chinese law Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal syste ...

, Japanese law, and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

; an official depository for federal documents published by the Government Printing Office and a depository for government publications of the state of Missouri. Contains over 650,000 volumes and volume equivalents.
Gaylord Music Library
- a

music library A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in ...

holds over 100,500 books and scores, 40,500 recordings and tapes, 5,200 microform items and more than 24,000 pieces of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...

, with strong holdings in Americana,

Festschriften In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, early music,

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, and music literature. Special collections include the Tyson Collection of 168

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and 100

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

first and early editions.
Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Physics Library
- contains book and serial publications supporting the

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Department. Actively collected materials include the areas of

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developm ...

condensed matter Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the su ...

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions ( quarks, leptons, ...

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set ...

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic b ...

, many-body systems,

low temperature In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

, high pressure, material physics, and ultrasonic physics. * '
Social Work Library
'' - houses

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

materials, including 50,000 books, journals, publications and videos; periodical holdings consist of more than 450 current subscriptions; adds more than 1,000 bound volumes to the collection each year; strong collections in the fields of

child welfare Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to ...

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relation ...

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles Stress (biology), stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-maki ...

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". The fi ...

, public welfare, management of human services, and

social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

.
Special Collections
consists of five units includin
Washington University Film & Media ArchiveManuscriptsRare Books
an
University Archives

West Campus Library
- contains

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

s, journals, folio books, government documents, maps, recordings, and microforms. Notable collections include all titles published prior to 1801 that are not part of Special Collections and a significant portion of the University's Government Document holdings. This facility also houses a number of library offices.

References

{{authority control

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

University and college academic libraries in the United States Federal depository libraries Libraries in Missouri 1853 establishments in Missouri