Georgia Tech Library

The Georgia Tech Library is an academic library that serves the needs of students, faculty, and staff at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The library consists of the S. Price Gilbert Library and the Dorothy M. Crosland Tower. In addition, the library is connected to and manages the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.

Georgia Tech Library
The front of the Georgia Tech Library
TypeAcademic library
Established1885
LocationGeorgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia
Collection
Items collected4.7 million
Other information
Budget$13 million[1]
DirectorCatherine Murray-Rust[2]
Dean of Libraries
Websitewww.library.gatech.edu
Map

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) recognized the library's effort to reinvent itself by awarding it a 2007 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award.[3][4][5] The Georgia Tech Library is located in the center of campus[6] and is open 24/7 as of the Fall term of 2014.[7] Among the Library staff members are subject specialists in 35 disciplines.[8]

Crosland Tower in 2019 following renovations

History

Judge Sterling Price Gilbert donated a large sum of Coca-Cola stock to Georgia Tech with the stipulation that the proceeds be used to construct a new library. He later donated more funds to the cause. Ground was broken for the S. Price Gilbert Memorial Library on July 5, 1951, and the building was dedicated on November 21, 1953.[9] The Graduate Addition to the library was opened in 1969, and was renamed Crosland Tower in 1985.[10]

Dorothy M. Crosland was the long-time head librarian; initially appointed as Assistant Librarian in 1925, she was promoted to Librarian in 1927 and Director of Libraries in 1953, a title she would hold until her retirement in 1971.[11][12][13]

Paul M. Heffernan, then a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Architecture, was the lead designer on the S. Price Gilbert Library.[14]

In 2017 a large-scale renovation project began with Crosland Tower to modernize it, opening up the space inside and changing the veneer to more curtainwall instead of solid brick to allow more natural light into the building and upgrade the finishes & MEP systems. The Crosland project was finished prior to the start of the Spring 2019 semester. Following its opening, a renovation project began on the S. Price Gilbert Library. The total renovation is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2020.[15]

Collections

The Library’s collections include over 2.4 million books, bound periodicals and serials, including about 900,000 government documents, 2.7 million technical reports, over 197,000 cartographic materials, more than 240 online databases, over 29,000 electronic books and 39,000 e-journals.[16] There is a separate Architecture Library which houses over 45,000 books.[17]

The Archives and Records Management department preserves and provides access to the history of Georgia Tech,[18] and includes over 4300 rare books emphasizing the history of science and technology, a 4000-volume science fiction collection,[19] photographic collections,[20] and approximately 1000 manuscript collections.

In mid-late 2015,[21] the library moved 95% of its print collections to an off-site service center as part of a partnership with Emory University.[22] This Library Service Center was opened and dedicated in 2016.[23]

Services
West Commons
East Commons Collaborative Computing desks

The Library's two information commons, West and East Commons, provide computer hardware and software geared to the needs of students, including a multimedia center and computers specifically set up for group study, known as the "collaborative computing" desks. The commons areas are a component of the partnership between the Library and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) which has also resulted in the creation of the Resource Center in the Library providing technology support, academic advising, and tutoring.[24]

The Library’s digital initiatives include the institutional repository, SMARTech, which captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and redistributes in digital form the intellectual output of the Institute’s students, faculty, and researchers.[25] Another digital service is ePage@Tech, which provides assistance publishing electronic books, journals, and conference proceedings; hosting of conferences, symposia, and lecture series, and captures instructional materials and multimedia.[26]

References
  1. "Library". Georgia Tech Fact Book. Georgia Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  2. "About Us". Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  3. "ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries winners announced". American Library Association. January 30, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  4. Pon, Corbin (February 16, 2007). "Tech wins Library of Excellence award". The Technique. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  5. "Georgia Tech's Library Celebrates Major Award" (Press release). Georgia Institute of Technology. April 10, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  6. "Library and Information Center". Campus Map. Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  7. "Georgia Tech Library: Hours". Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  8. "Subject Librarians". Georgia Tech Library and Information Center. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  9. "Philanthropy at Tech". Georgia Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  10. Li, Lisha; Altamirano, Isabel; Finn, Bette (2017). "History of the Georgia Tech Library, with Emphasis on the Crosland Era". Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  11. "Dorothy M. Crosland Papers". Archives & Records Management. Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  12. Ann Vidor; Jean Price, Virginia Kinman. "A History of the Georgia Tech Library" (PDF). University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  13. Kent, Allen (1993). Encyclopedia of library and information science, Volume 52. p. 108. ISBN 0-8247-2052-0. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  14. "Heffernan Design Archives". Georgia Tech Library. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  15. "Library Renewal Project Moves ForwardÂ". www.news.gatech.edu. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  16. ""Empower. Enrich. Advance" (Library fact sheet)" (PDF). Library and Information Center, Georgia Institute of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  17. "Architecture Library". Georgia Tech Library and Information Center. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  18. "Georgia Tech Archives and Records Management". Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  19. Kessler, Alex (March 3, 2011). "Archives delve into global, Tech history". The Technique. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  20. "Georgia Tech Photograph Collection". Georgia Tech Archives and Records Management. Archived from the original on May 18, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  21. "Improved Services for Georgia Tech Users". Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  22. "Library Service Center of Emory University and Georgia Tech". Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  23. Wallace, Lance (March 17, 2016). "Emory, Georgia Tech Dedicate Joint Library Service Center". Georgia Tech News. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  24. Cuneo, Joshua (March 31, 2007). "Library unveils Resource Center". The Technique. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  25. "SMARTech". Georgia Tech Library and Information Center. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  26. "ePage@Tech". Georgia Tech Library and Information Center. Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.

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