Introduction to the Libraries System
Western Kentucky University Libraries, which includes Helm-Cravens Library, the Kentucky Library & Museum, Glasgow Campus Library, and the Educational Resources Center, supports the University’s roles of teaching, research, and public service by serving as a comprehensive source of information access and education. For 100 years, University Libraries has taken seriously the responsibility of reaching every person on campus and providing the community, region, and state with lifelong learning opportunities and experiences through its extensive collections of books and artifacts, electronic databases, community literacy projects, and educational programs.
A Vision of Serving
With a vision of serving students, faculty, staff, and the community, Western Kentucky University Libraries, with the support of Friends of Libraries & Museum and community organizations, presents ongoing literacy programs – the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, Kentucky Literary Awards, Kentucky Writers’ Conference, and community book reading projects for children, teens, and adults. In addition, the Libraries system is host to activities celebrating Women’s History, and National Literacy months. Other programs include Far Away Places, Kentucky Live! and annual events, such as the US Bank Celebration of the Arts, an Appraisal Day, and Christmas in Kentucky.
A Campus Treasure
The Kentucky Library & Museum, housed in the Kentucky Building, serves more than 7,000 school children and 70,000 visitors each year. Its mission is “to enhance and understanding of Kentucky and its people.” With that directive, KYLM collects and preserves Kentucky artifacts, manuscripts, quilts, newspapers, Civil War memorabilia, folk life and genealogical records. The Kentucky Building is home to The Civil War and Southern History Research Center-- an extensive microfilm collection of Old South, Civil War, and Gilded Age documents and manuscripts--along with a wide selection of resource materials to help preserve Kentucky’s history. The facility also houses WKU’s archives, which document the history and milestones of the University.
A Vital Component
As a gateway to an ever-expanding universe of information, WKU Libraries envisions providing more valuable, high-quality information to more people in more ways. Expansion of collections and services guarantees a bright future for the University and enhances its ability to attract the best of the best.
The University Libraries has created innovative, pioneering models of electronic library products. WKU Libraries offered the first library website in Kentucky. It also offered the first library portal, the Topper InfoPortal (TIP), in Kentucky and one of the first university library portals in the United States. TIP is a unique search tool on the WKU Libraries’ Homepage to streamline and make more productive users' searches for useful information from the Web. It allows WKU and community users to find the very best local, regional, national, and international Web sites in more than 30 categories along with the University's and the Kentucky Virtual Library's electronic resources and Web accessible catalogs. In addition, WKU Libraries offered the first library blog in Kentucky, first organizational blog at WKU, and one of the first library blogs in the United States. It was also the first library podcast producer in Kentucky and an early podcaster nationally.
A New Century of Spirit:
In support of its vision, the University Libraries and the Kentucky Library and Museum have established the following priorities for the New Century of Spirit Campaign:
Collections Development
Collections are the heart of a library with books, journals, periodicals, electronic databases, and other forms of information being the backbone of a university’s research capability. Specific subject-area collections endowments will give faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to grow the amount of available information they have access to in order to be more effective in their fields of research and coursework.
Creating endowments to support each of WKU’s academic units along with funds specifically designated for innovative technology-based information, would allow for a more comprehensive, higher quality library system, thus elevating the capacity for research and the attainment of knowledge by students, faculty, staff, and the community which WKU serves.
Kentucky Library and Museum
As the history of our university and state continues to unfold, the Kentucky Library and Museum strives to capture and present it in an innovative and relevant manner. Support for the development of exhibitions--including a survey of Kentucky history and the history of technology in the Commonwealth as well as endowment dollars to support the acquisition of pieces of history and the preservation of those items--will allow for this history to be available for future generations in an applicable, accessible manner. Further, preservation and renovation of the Kentucky Building will allow the living history of that facility to remain a vital component of WKU’s future.
Construction and Renovation
High quality, environmentally sound facilities are a necessity for the maintenance and growth of WKU libraries. Currently, renovations and expansions are needed for several of WKU’s Libraries including: the Kentucky Building, Helm-Cravens Library, the Visual and Performance Library, and the Educational Resource Center in the new College of Education Building. These building and renovation projects will provide much needed updates to the WKU Libraries System’s infrastructure and will facilitate a more extensive, accessible collection for our constituents.
Community Outreach
WKU Libraries recognizes and relishes its leadership role in providing literacy, literary, and educational outreach to the southern Kentucky community. Through programming including the Southern Kentucky Book Fest and Kentucky Library and Museum Education Programs and Tours, WKU Libraries serves WKU faculty, staff, and students as well as patrons from across the Commonwealth. Establishing permanent funding vehicles to support these outreach programs will guarantee their quality and availability to future WKU students and the community.
Endowed Professorships
By maintaining a high level of quality within our faculty pool, WKU Libraries can continue to be cutting edge in its research and ability to assist in the research of others. Within the Department of Special Collections, endowed librarianships in Kentucky History Interpretation and in Civil War and Southern History would allow more comprehensive access to these extensive collections by having a specific expert in the field available for faculty and student researchers.
Additionally, the Department of Public Services endowed librarianships in Website and Virtual Library Development and in Digital Initiatives would provide much needed focus in technology-based initiatives, concreting WKU Libraries’ cutting edge reputation in the field.
Further, an endowed librarianship in Cataloging, housed in the Department of Technology Services, would create more access and utilization of WKU Libraries’ various collections, both in-house and on-line. By having endowed librarianships in these emphasis areas, WKU Libraries would be responding to the needs of the WKU campus and community in the areas of research, accessibility, and technology support, guaranteeing its commitment to remain a leader among library systems in academia.