Libraries

The Wesleyan University Library is one of the finest small academic libraries in the United States, with holdings of about 1.3 million items including books, serial subscriptions, microforms, and government documents. The library actively develops and maintains a rapidly growing collection of state-of-the-art electronic indexes and full-text resources. The extent and variety of the library collections provide strong support for the educational mission of the University. As a member of the CTW Consortium, Wesleyan shares an online catalog with Trinity College and Connecticut College. The CTW system provides easy access to, and daily delivery of, materials for students and faculty from the other member institutions.

More information about the library's collections, hours, and services is available at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/

  • Olin Memorial Library

    Olin Memorial Library is one of Wesleyan's most architecturally significant buildings. The pleasant environment and the richness of the collections combine to make Olin Library one of the major focal points on campus for study, research, and scholarly communication. The Olin stacks contain materials in the humanities and social sciences. Other collections housed in the building include scores and recordings, the World Music Archives, Special Collections, the University archival collections, a microform center, periodical reading room, and United States government documents.

    Reference librarians in the Campbell Reference Center are available to provide instruction on information research and to assist and advise library users on locating the information resources they need, whether those resources are held at Wesleyan or are available elsewhere in the world. Olin Library also contains the Interlibrary Loan Office as well as library administrative offices and processing units.

    For more information about Olin Library or to take a virtual tour of the building on the Web, please see:

    http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/

  • Art Library

    The Art Library is located at 301 High Street, situated in the back of the Davison Art Center. The library's collection contains books, current periodicals, and reference materials in the fields of art and architectural history, photography, and studio arts. Due to the space available at Davison, many of the older art books and all of the bound art journals are shelved in Olin Library. The CTW online catalog represents the art holdings in both locations. You may schedule an appointment for individual instruction on how to find resources for class assignments. For more information about the Art Library and its services and holdings, please see www.wesleyan.edu/libr/arthome/arthome.htm, or call,  685-3326.

    Regular semester hours are Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.

  • Scores & Recordings Collection

    The Scores & Recordings Collection, located on the third floor of Olin Library, houses the library's collection of musical scores and sound recordings of both spoken word and music. The collection also includes the World Music Archives. The Scores & Recordings staff includes the music librarian and two music library assistants.

    The regular circulating collection has 10,000 LP recordings, more than 7,000 CDs, 300 cassette tapes, and 13,000 scores. The majority of the books about music (classed ML and MT) are in the Olin stacks. Reference books are located both in Scores &Recordings and the Campbell Reference Center. Scores & Recordings also has copies of Wesleyan master's theses and doctoral dissertations in music. Videos, except for World Music Archives material, are kept with other library videos in the Reserve Room.

    Scores circulate the same as books with the exception of editions of composers' complete works, which circulate only to faculty and graduate students. CDs in the regular collection circulate for two weeks to graduate students and faculty and one week to undergraduate students. LPs circulate only to graduate students and faculty for two weeks. Users can listen to LPs, CDs, and reserve tapes via headphones at any of our 20 individual listening stations. Mirroring the Music Department and its interests, the primary strengths of the music collection are world music and 20th-century experimental music. For more detailed information about the music collections at Wesleyan University, please visit: www.wesleyan.edu/libr/srhome/srdir.htm.

    Regular semester hours are Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.

    For more information, contact: music librarian 685-3899.

  • Science Library

    The Science Library, located in the center of the Science Tower complex, serves the departments of astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, mathematics, molecular biology, biochemistry, psychology and physics. The Science Library provides scientific indexes and abstracts, books, journals, maps, videos, computer disks, and a variety of other materials.  The CTW online catalog provides access to the holdings of all the Wesleyan libraries, as well as those from Connecticut College and Trinity College. The Wesleyan University Library homepage on the Internet is a gateway to the world of knowledge.

    For more information about the Science Library, please refer directly to our homepage on the Web at www.wesleyan.edu/libr/scihome/scilib.htm, or call the science librarian at 685-3714.

  • Theater Library

    The Theater Script Collection is located in the Theater Department..  The library is located in the Theater and Dance Studios and is open during the regular working day.

    For more information: 685-2950.

  • W.E.B. DuBois Reading Room and Library
    The W.E.B.DuBois Library is located on the second floor of the Malcom X House and can be accessed from the Malcolm X House dormitory entrance. The library has become a major source of information on many aspects of African American culture and literature.
  • The World Music Archives

    The World Music Archives, housed in the Scores &Recordings Collection, is well known for its holdings of world music recordings, some made as early as the 1920s, with copies of original recordings made as early as 1897. Its collections of South Indian, Indonesian, Japanese and Native American music are among the most extensive in the world. Many of these were recorded by Wesleyan faculty and students in the course of their travels and fieldwork and deposited as a resource for future researchers. In addition, the Archives hold recordings of most Wesleyan concerts and student recitals. All of these are available for in-house listening and in certain circumstances, can be copied with permission.

    The World Music Archives staff can be reached Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., at 685-3826 or 685-3899, and will answer any questions about the use of the archives. More detailed information may be found at: www.wesleyan.edu/libr/srhome/srwma.htm.

  • Special Collections & Archives

    Special Collections & Archives is located on the first floor of Olin Library and holds Wesleyan's rare books, manuscripts, and the University Archives. The collection includes more than 25,000 rare books from the earliest examples of printing with movable type in the 1450s to current artists' books and over 3,000 cubic feet of archival and manuscript material. Specific strengths include the holdings of early printed books, Renaissance books, British and American literature, poetry, and examples of fine printing. The University Archives hold significant collections of documents tracing the history of Wesleyan from 1831 to the present time.

    The SC & A staff provides in-depth reference service as well as individual and group instruction. Reading room hours are Monday – Friday, 1:30 – 5 p.m. Please see the Special Collections &Archives Web site for complete information on holdings and policies at: www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/schome.htm, or call 685-3864.