University Libraries

Dean: Frederick Barnhart
Associate Dean: T. J. Lusher
Associate Dean: Jana Brubaker
Associate Dean: Leanne VandeCreek

The Northern Illinois University Libraries system consists of Founders Memorial Library, Faraday Library, and the Music Library. The University Libraries contain over 2 million physical and electronic volumes as well as periodicals, government publications, microforms, maps, recordings, audiovisual materials, electronic databases, and over 26,000 electronic journals.

NIU Libraries are participants in the I-Share System, a network involving 145 academic institutions throughout Illinois. Access is via the World Wide Web and allows users to immediately determine which of the 86 libraries own desired research materials. Materials not owned by NIU can be obtained quickly from other I-Share member libraries.

Founders Memorial Library, the main library, has six levels with 327,000 square feet of space and seating capacity for 1600 students. The first floor houses key library services including the circulation desk, the reference desk, services to students with disabilities, library instruction, document delivery services, the reserves collection, periodicals collection, media collection, and the Scholars’ Den. Microforms, the map collection, and government publications are located on the second floor; the Digital Convergence Lab and the Reading Assistance Center are housed on the third floor; and the Regional History Center/University Archives, Rare Books and Special Collections and the Southeast Asia collection are on the fourth floor. The upper three floors house circulating books.

Faraday Library serves faculty and students in the disciplines of chemistry and physics. Similarly, the Music Library serves the music curriculum. Regular, interim, and holiday hours are posted near the entrance to each library and on the libraries’ web site at www.library.niu.edu.

NIU libraries provide a variety of guides to collections and services. These materials are available online at library.niu.edu/ulib. Instruction in the use of the library is given to classes by librarians as part of the University Libraries library instruction program. Library instruction covers both basic information literacy and, for upper-level classes, in-depth instruction related to materials in particular subject areas. A for-credit library research class, UNIV 105, is also offered at the undergraduate level.

Regional History Center and University Archives

Cindy S. Ditzler, director, M.A., Western Illinois University