By Maria Dillman
In my childhood whenever I thought of a college library, I had a distinct image in my brain that was formulated from scenes I had seen or heard about. My parents would say “I used to spend every night in the library…that’s all I did was study.” Or the movies would describe a steamy encounter between couples among the bookshelves. When I got to college I was able to formulate my own opinion from spending time in the different libraries on the Baylor campus. Times have changed since the imagined scenes from my parents, movies, or friends. But I will impart a little information about the Baylor libraries to give you a better glimpse into life at this university.
We have five libraries on the campus: 2 central ones Moody and Jones, then special collection ones named Poage, Carroll, and Armstrong-Browning.
Moody:
Moody is the main library: with four floors ranging anywhere from a hustle and bustle of the Starbucks café to quiet study rooms where you can hear a pin drop.
The entryway of Moody hosts the nation’s largest Starbucks located on a collegiate campus. The foyer has brown comfy chairs and café style tables for group projects to meet at and talk. It is more of a social entryway, and not much studying would be accomplished here without the help of ear phones.
The Study Commons of Moody is located on the Garden Level and is lovingly known as “Club Moody” among students due to the 24 hour available study space and wide variety of individual and group study spaces. It also is host to the largest computer lab on campus hosting a variety of PCs and Macs along with laptops available for checkout.
Jones:
This is where the research magic happens. The library hosts more than 2.5 million printed volumes, but 80% of the budget is spent on electronic resources with over 70,000 e-journals, and 500 databases for use. This can all be accessed via your login credentials from the comfort of your own home. This is also where the information desk of libraries is held. Librarians provide research assistance via the walk-up assistance desk and additionally, can be reached by an online chat session similar to a Facebook message.
Poage:
R. Poage Legislative Library holds a variety of materials used for research and educational use on the history of Congress, the legislative process, and current issues facing state and national governments. It is also home to the offices for our multiple study abroad programs.
Carroll Library Housing the Texas Collection:
This library hosts the special collections and archives of Baylor University and Texas history. The librarians here are so helpful in finding anything you could ever want to know about Texas or Baylor history. Most research materials cannot be checked out from here but must be handled within the building…sometimes even with gloves on for fragile documents.
Armstrong Browning Library:
This is a true gem on the Baylor campus. This library looks more like a museum than a library and hardly anyone actually studies here. It has the largest collection of secular stained glass windows in the world. And it hosts the largest collection of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s work (you may recognize that name from English class…”How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”) Several weddings have taken place in this library and its serenity gardens on the outside are a great place to relax or enjoy a picnic.
The libraries at Baylor are a range of sociable, studious and stunning opportunities for enrichment. Maybe now, you have a better picture of them for yourself.
