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Library Information Services

The Manhattanville College Library creates community at the center of the College. Collections and services evolve according to the diverse information needs of Manhattanville students, faculty and community members. The Library prepares Manhattanville students for a lifetime of learning in a technology-rich and information-intensive environment. At the same time, the Library supports the teaching, scholarship and research activities of faculty members. Manhattanville College supports Information Literacy instruction across the curriculum. Our teaching librarians develop and deliver credit-bearing Information Literacy courses and also assist faculty within their undergraduate and graduate courses. The Library has a strong tradition of offering accurate, thorough, prompt, courteous, and confidential service. Extensive service hours and 24/7 online access make it easy to use the Library.

Facilities

As a gateway to information, the Library is both a repository of accumulated knowledge and an access point to current resources. The Library building houses nearly 250,000 volumes of books and journals. Our web site provides access to thousands of electronic journals and other multimedia resources. Wireless network access extends through all common spaces except the stacks. Computers, with Internet access, Microsoft Office and other educational software, are located in the Reference Commons, the stacks, the News and Events Room, the Cafe, the Digital Innovations lab, and the Educational Resource Center (ERC). Laptops and other portable devices are available for loan.

The public spaces of the Library offer comfortable areas for study and research. Large rooms on the main (first) floor provide tables for comfortable, quiet study. A group study area with whiteboards is located on the second floor. There are carrels for private study on each of the stack tiers, including computers in each carrel on the third, fourth and fifth tier. The Educational Resource Center provides materials for teacher training and children’s literature. Video viewing areas are available for individuals and groups. An electronic classroom provides the ideal environment for learning about Information Literacy.

The Library offers modern facilities for printing and scanning. Touch-screen, self-service scanners make document conversion a breeze. High-speed printing is available on the first and second floors. There are dozens of public computers for writing papers, watching videos, doing homework, and connecting with friends.

The Digital Innovations lab has both Macs and PCs, and movable furniture adaptable to group study. The Rare Books Room contains unique manuscripts, incunabula and historic records. Archives of Manhattanville College history are also housed in the Library building.

The Library Café on the first floor is one of the most popular spots on campus. Here students can study, use technology, and talk while enjoying coffee, sandwiches and salads.

Collections

In addition to the quarter of a million volumes and 20,000 bound periodicals, the Library holds extensive audiovisual and microform collections. The Library currently subscribes to a core list of essential print journals, and, through various electronic services, has access to more than 46,000 electronic journals. The Library also has thousands of electronic books, an exceptional array of online reference tools and full-text databases. These can all be discovered using the Library's web site, custom-created library guides in every academic subject, and online catalogs of materials owned by Manhattanville and our extended borrowing partners. These online catalogs are accessible to anyone via the Internet. Subscription databases can be remotely accessed off-campus 24/7 by members of the Manhattanville community. Reserve collections consist of special materials requested by professors for class use. These are kept at the Circulation Desk and/or made available through the Blackboard learning management system.

Expanded Hours

The Library is open around the clock Sundays-Thursdays starting the third week of each semester until the end of final exams. Limited hours apply during holidays, between semesters, and in both winter and summer sessions. The Library's web page always links to the most current schedule information.

Rare Book and Archives

The Rare Books collection contains 2,320 volumes consisting of manuscripts, incunabula, 17th Century prints, first editions and other valuable items. The subject areas of special interest are: correspondence of the Civil War Period; early American text books; Catholic Church history in the United States; liturgical music; first editions of English and American literature; and literary and historical autographs. The Archives house documents and materials relating to Manhattanville College history.

Audio/Visual Services

The library has comfortable listening and viewing areas for videos, CDs, streaming video, etc.

Extended Access to Resources

The Library is an electronic doorway to libraries and repositories from all over the world. Books and periodical articles may be borrowed using Interlibrary Loan from other libraries in the region, state, country, and even internationally. In addition, there is reciprocal borrowing with the Purchase College (SUNY) Library that is just a couple of miles away. Students may also borrow materials from any Westchester County Public Library with a Westchester Library System library card provided by the Purchase Free Library. The White Plains Public Library, 10 minutes from campus, holds an extensive Children’s Literature collection of great value to Education students. A METRO card, obtainable at the Library's reference desk, admits students with special research needs to member libraries throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Reference

The Reference Commons houses a collection of 2,000 volumes; the Library web site provides access to premier scholarly reference databases. Reference sources include both print and electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, and indexes. Reference librarians are available most days from 10:00 AM until 9:00 PM. Individual consultations are also available by appointment using an online form. The Library offers SMS text reference services with next-business day response.

Workshops

A wide variety of workshops are offered on research techniques and tools for specific groups and applications.

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