Library of Resources: the new Emerson Library
By Ellen Eliceiri, Head of Reference and Public Services

Where is the best location that your son or daughter can buy a smoothie, a café latté, or a sandwich and research and write a paper for their classes? The answer is Emerson Library, which just opened last summer in the heart of Webster University’s campus. Supporting the academic curriculum with its wide variety of collections and resources there is no doubt that your student’s use of the library can be the key to academic success.

With its central location between the Sverdrup Business and Technology Building, the Loretto Hilton Center, and the University Center, the Emerson Library is easily accessible and accommodates those with special needs. The new library is bright and airy and encourages students to study and meet with their classmates. The 700 wired seats include many comfortable side chairs and lounge chairs with just about every type of study space for any style of studying. Group study rooms varying in size from four to ten seats can be found on all of the floors of the library. Some of these spaces offer excellent views of the campus.

The two-story cyber-café is open 24/7, with card swipe after hours for students, faculty and staff. During the semester, the rest of the library is open 94 hours a week allowing access to over 200,000 volumes on the arts and sciences, humanities, and social sciences including 1,400 current periodical subscriptions. The religious studies and ethics collections are held in Luhr Library on the campus of Eden Theological Seminary, located one block from campus. Both libraries are part of the Eden-Webster Library System, which began in 1969.

In addition to the book collection and the current and bound journals, the library has a growing collection of over 6,500 videos and DVDs, and 6000 CDs, which are available for check-out or to use in the listening and video rooms. These collections and rooms serve as a valuable resource supporting all of Webster University’s curriculum.

In addition to the physical building, there is a virtual library accessible from anywhere. In the middle of the night, students can continue their research from wherever they are—at home, in off-campus apartments, across the country, and even overseas. Passports, Webster’s library on the web, gives access to the online catalog, with over 15,000 eBooks and over 100 databases—including more than 60+ full-text databases—offering articles from newspapers, magazines and other publications. Through our membership in Mobius, a statewide consortium of fifty academic institutions in Missouri, students can borrow books from all over the state. This virtual collection has over 14 million items. Requested materials are delivered to the Emerson Library within one or two days of being requested through the MOBIUS Delivery System.

The electronic classroom allows hands-on instruction in the library by the professional librarians and the faculty. Seminars and workshops are scheduled in the lecture/conference room. Computers with word processing, Passports and other electronic products are in the electronic commons and the café.

When visiting your son or daughter, come take a tour of the Emerson Library, or have a snack and a beverage at Jazzman’s Café. You will soon discover, just as most of the University population, that the Emerson Library is an ideal place for research, study, and socializing.