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Central University Libraries

As the center for intellectual life at SMU, Central University Libraries (CUL) has been encouraging the discovery and acquisition of new knowledge since the opening of the first University library in Dallas Hall in 1915. Today CUL is on the brink of creating a library for the 21st century, using technology as a catalyst for learning. This library will provide an environment conducive to study and research while preserving and protecting its treasure trove of special collections. Libraries are increasingly becoming active learning spaces where the focus is on facilitating social exchange through which new knowledge is generated. The strength of the library’s collections and services will be at the heart of SMU’s goal of becoming a leading research institution.

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Centennial Decade Priorities

Student Quality

Increase resources that support the recruitment of top students

  • Implement emerging technologies to increase online journal and other electronic subscriptions, digital media, podcasting, WiFi and Internet databases
  • Augment various high-demand and high-impact print book and manuscript collections
  • Support the rising quality of SMU students with 24/7 access to the library and its resources
  • Help students develop information literacy skills for the digital age

Faculty and Academic Excellence

Enhance resources for faculty study and research

  • Renovate Fondren Library Center and create a grand public reading room
  • Develop new acquisitions endowments in interdisciplinary areas such as environmental engineering and environmental sustainability
  • Increase online science and engineering resources in newly developing technology or research areas
  • Broaden availability of comprehensive primary research materials, particularly in the humanities; acquire books and materials to support new Ph.D. programs; and digitize important collections and archives
  • Establish endowments for key leadership positions (such as the dean and director of Central University Libraries, director of the DeGolyer Library, the SMU archivist and an archivist for the Archives of Women of the Southwest)
  • Expand the Information Commons to create a cutting-edge, technology-rich environment
  • Expand space for collections, archives and exhibits to maximize accessibility of library services and showcase library treasures

Campus Experience

Advance Information Literacy

  • Support independent learning through collaborative technology rooms where students, faculty and staff can conduct research, create multimedia presentations and work on digital projects
  • Encourage the use of SMU libraries as an important source of research and scholarship
  • Stage community events that promote cultural discussion and showcase the many resources available in the SMU libraries
  • Support partnerships with institutions such as the Texas Digital Library, the Dallas Public Library, the Texas Music Center, the Women’s Museum and university libraries around the world

Central University Libraries at a Glance

Central University Libraries, the largest division of the SMU library system, comprises six unique libraries with research materials in every field of study and more than 2 million volumes of books, more than 38,000 e-journals and databases and access to almost 310,000 e-books. Central University Libraries houses the University’s permanent collection of intellectual capital and includes the Fondren Library Center, the main library for students and faculty. The development of its resources serves to support each of SMU’s three overarching Centennial Decade priorities: student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. A high-tech, 21st-century library with a robust collection is an essential representation of a university’s commitment to scholarship and research and is crucial in today’s academic climate.

Fondren Library Center

  • Holds more than 1 million volumes that serve students and faculty in the humanities, social sciences, business and education
  • Especially strong in its collections of American history, English literature, classical history and literature, anthropology, economics and other social sciences
  • Contains more than 900,000 volumes that serve researchers in biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, operations research, and civil, mechanical and electrical engineering
  • Contains a map library that houses more than 250,000 maps
  • Offers access to technology and staff assistance that allow students to create a variety of digital projects such as DVDs, Web videos, digital portfolios and other media-intensive projects
  • Provides facilities for learning such as collaborative study, class presentation practice, video recording and a screening room

DeGolyer Library and SMU Archives

  • Home of SMU Archives as well as unique and extensive resources on the trans-Mississippi West, the Spanish Borderlands and transportation history
  • The DeGolyer Library holds 110,000 rare books, more than 1 million manuscript items in 2,500 separate archival collections, about 700,000 photographs, approximately 3,000 early maps, more than 2,000 periodical and newspaper titles and a sizable collection of printed ephemera
  • Special collections include the Stanley Marcus Collection, the JCPenney Archives and the Texas Instruments Historical Archives

Hamon Arts Library

  • Houses most of SMU’s collections in art, arts administration, cinema, dance, music and theatre
  • Holds special collections that include the Bywaters Collection on art of the Southwest, the Dozier Collection on 20th-century visual arts in the Southwest and the Greer Garson Collection

ISEM (Institute for the Study of Earth and Man) Reading Room

  • Contains 8,000 volumes and several collections in anthropology and geological and geophysical sciences
  • Serves students and faculty in SMU’s Departments of Anthropology and Earth Sciences as well as researchers and staff of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man

Fort Burgwin Library

  • Located near Taos, New Mexico, to support the SMU-in-Taos program and housed in the Fred Wendorf Information Commons
  • Provides a core collection that focuses on the region’s cultures, anthropology, archaeology, geology, history, literature, arts, ecology and environment

The SMU-in-Legacy Library

  • Supports the academic degree programs offered at SMU-in-Legacy
  • Offers Internet access and the same databases found on SMU’s main campus

Join Us

Be a part of defining the next 100 years of unbridled achievement at SMU. To get involved in The Second Century Campaign for Central University Libraries, call 214-768-1741 or e-mail culgiving@smu.edu.