Columbia_University_Library_System

Columbia University Library System

The Columbia University Libraries, with over 9.3 million volumes, contains one of the largest library collections in the United States and is the nation's fifth-largest academic library. It is the third largest library -- and the largest academic library -- in the State of New York. The system includes 25 libraries in total, primarily located on or near the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City.

Facts and Figures

In addition to its 7 volumes, the Columbia library system contains over 65,000 serial subscriptions, nearly 6 million microfilms, 26 million manuscripts, over 600,000 rare books, over 100,000 videos and DVDs, and nearly 200,000 government documents. The library's collection would stretch 174 miles end-to-end, and is growing at a pace of 140,000 items per annum. The system attracts over 3 million visitors a year.

The Libraries

The libraries in the Columbia system include:

Area Studies
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Barnard College Library (affiliate)
Biological Sciences Library
Burke Library at the Union Theological Seminary
Watson Library of Business & Economics at the Columbia Business School
Butler Library

Butler Media Center
Columbia University Archives
Electronic Data Service
Electronic Text Service
Milstein Undergraduate Library of Columbia College
Oral History Research Office
Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Chemistry Library
Columbiana Library (Columbia University Archives)
C.V. Starr East Asian Library
Ambrose Monell Engineering Library
Geology Library
Geoscience Library at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York
Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at the Columbia University Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan
Jewish Theological Seminary Library (affiliate)
Columbia Journalism School Library
Arthur W. Diamond Law Library at the Columbia Law School
Lehman Social Sciences Library at the School of International and Public Affairs
Mathematics & Science Library
Gabe M. Wiener Music & Arts Library
Physics & Astronomy Library
School of Social Work Library
Gottesmann Libraries of Teachers College (affiliate)

Additionally, Columbia shares an offsite shelving facility, located in Plainsboro, New Jersey, with the Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (RECAP), which includes the New York Public Library and the library system of Princeton University.

The confusingly titled Low Memorial Library, a prominent building on Columbia's campus emblazoned with the inscription "The Library of Columbia University", is no longer chiefly a library, serving instead as the university's administrative center. It was the university's central library from the 1890s to the 1930s, when due to shortage of space it was supplanted by Butler Library. The Columbia University Archives collection, formerly housed in Low, is now located within the Rare Book and Manuscript Library on the 6th floor of Butler Library.

BorrowDirect

As part of the Ivy League, Columbia participates in the BorrowDirect interlibrary loan program, which allows students at any of the Ivy League schools sans Harvard to borrow books from one another's libraries. The books are usually delivered within 3-4 business days.