University of Maryland Libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an off-site storage facility, is located just outside campus, and the Priddy Library is located on the University System of Maryland satellite campus in Shady Grove.
The UMD Libraries are a key academic resource that supports the teaching, learning, and research goals of the university. The various materials collected by the libraries can be accessed by students, scholars, and the general public. The libraries feature 4 million volumes and a substantial number of e-resources, a variety of archives and special collections, and a host of technological resources which enable remote online access to the Libraries' holdings and services. They are members of both the Big Ten Academic Alliance and the University System of Maryland and Affiliate Institutions. As of December 2012, the libraries were ranked 10th in electronic resources as a percentage of total library materials by the 115-member Association of Research Libraries.
History
A library/gym building was constructed on campus in 1893, which survived the Great Fire of 1912; the building, which stood where Tydings Hall now stands, was razed in 1958. A new library building, called Shoemaker Library, was constructed in 1931, and served as the university's main library until the construction of McKeldin Library in 1958.The university's library became a Federal depository library in 1925, a status it has held since. In 1965, the library system became the Regional Depository for Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.
Administration
The Office of the Dean serves as the executive administrative unit of the University of Maryland Library system, headed by the Dean of Libraries. Adriene Lim, PhD, began as Dean of Libraries on August 19, 2019. She succeeds Babak Hamidzadeh who served as Interim Dean of the Libraries starting in July 2015 after the retirement of Patricia Steele. Reporting to the Dean of Libraries are five additional administrative units, each led by an associate dean or director: Administrative Services, the division, the division, the Strategic Communication and Outreach Office, and the division.The Library Assembly is primarily an advisory council for the Dean of Libraries and LMG. Faculty, staff, students, and administrators are all free to participate in the Library Assembly meetings. Voting membership of the assembly consists of library faculty, elected staff representatives, and elected graduate assistant representatives.
McKeldin Library
McKeldin Library is the main branch of the University of Maryland Library system. Constructed in 1958, the building is named for Theodore McKeldin, the former Governor of Maryland. Located at the western end of McKeldin Mall, the Library is one of the largest buildings on campus. It is home to a number of collections, including the university's General Collection and the East Asia Collection. McKeldin Library also serves as a regional Federal depository library, housing a collection of United States government documents, along with GIS and Data Services. Also housed in the library are several computer labs, a Tech Desk, and Footnotes Café.McKeldin Library remains open to students, faculty, and staff on a 24/5 schedule most of the Fall and Spring semesters, in order to provide late night study hours for university students; A UMD identification card is necessary to gain access to the building during the late night study hours.
Terrapin Learning Commons
Former Dean of Libraries Patricia Steele announced plans to gut the second floor of McKeldin during the summer of 2010 in order to make room for a new "Terrapin Learning Commons". Steele hoped to "reevaluate" all seven of the library's floors, with the ultimate goal of transforming McKeldin into a study-oriented, laptop-friendly central library for the university, and perhaps creating a floor specifically designed for graduate students.The new laptop-friendly learning commons opened for the Fall 2011 semester, with plans to add multimedia workstations and lockers which can recharge laptops in between classes. A graduate-only study room opened later during the fall semester.
In September 2012, the TLC expanded to include a Tech Desk, which provides a variety of services, including equipment loan and specialized printing support.
Hornbake Library
Constructed in 1972 as a separate undergraduate library, was named in 1980 for R. Lee Hornbake, the former Academic Vice President of the University of Maryland. The building was repurposed as repository for special collections, and now Hornbake Library is home to the College of Information Sciences, the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, the Gordon W. Prange Collection, the Katherine Anne Porter Room, and the Maryland Room, which houses Special Collections and University Archives. In September 2012, the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities moved to a new space in Hornbake Library, having been previously located in the basement of McKeldin Library. Hornbake Library is located in Hornbake Plaza, which sits east of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union. Since 1973, Hornbake Library had been the home of which lent non-print media, including DVDs and production equipment, but in June 2019, the Provost, Mary Ann Rankin, and Dean of the College of Information Studies, Keith Marzullo, announced that the space would be repurposed as a space for the College of Information Studies' faculty and students. While UMD Libraries now only staff the special collections areas, there are a variety of self-serve study spaces available throughout Hornbake Library.Architecture Library
Located in the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, the library's collection areas include architectural history, design, and theory, as well as historical preservation, landscape architecture, real estate development, and urban studies and planning.The Architecture Library is currently a "print limited" library, meaning they will continue to retain their current print materials, but their new acquisitions shall primarily be e-resources. This new policy is part of their strategy to become the model 21st century library for Sustainability in the Built Environment.
Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library opened in 2000 as part of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and is home to the university's music, theatre, and dance materials; the collection includes 56,000 books, 156,000 musical scores, 130,000 audio and video recordings, 4,500 microfilm titles, and 281 active journal subscriptions.The library's public areas include a large main reading room with individual study carrels, a separate reading room for special collections, a lounge-style study room, a seminar room, and a study room. Connecting the library to the Smith Center's Grand Pavilion is the multi-media exhibitions gallery, with an adjacent lecture/concert room.