The Jerry Falwell Library is located on the campus of Liberty University. It is an academic library, but also has archives and special collections, and a museum. The university is located in Lynchburg in between business 29 and the bypass 29 on 1971 University Blvd. One of my sons was a residential student and graduated. My husband was also a student and graduated from a masters and doctoral program at Liberty. It has been a couple years since I last visited the library, due to Covid. When I went back to visit the library, it was the same:
The Space and Physical Access
The library is primarily designed for residential students so there isn’t parking, other than handicapped, available near the library. There is parking in the parking deck near the dining facility and also near the bookstore. It is a long walk, but unlike some of the other local universities, the terrain is flat and can be accessed easily. There are stairs and a ramp in front of the library. There are automatic doors in front as well aiding in accessibility. The library is very open and bright and that may be due to it being a newer facility, being built in 2014.
The first floor (or “terrace” level) houses a computer lab as soon as you enter the building to the right. It has PCs and Macs available for student use. There are lockers in the back of the room and many outlets available to plug up phones and laptops. There are printers for any printing and a copier and students have to use their ID card for printing and copying fees. Anyone can use the library, even though it is a private university, but you have to be a student to access the computers and use the Wi-Fi since you have to log in with your Liberty log in. The room is large and has a lot of computers to use and it gets very busy during the end of the semesters. To the left of the lobby is an area for check out and the book collections are to the left. There are several rooms for studying, classes or group work on this floor. The library was quiet for the most part, except for those in the group rooms. They had the doors shut but they have clear glass on the front of the rooms. Each floor has a designated noise level so if you, as a student, needed complete silence to study, you could go to the appropriate floor. There are 4 floors in the library There is a room with adaptive equipment for those with visual or hearing impairments (Jerry Falwell Library, n.d) There is a lot of seating, both nice cushion seating and as well as metal and wooden chairs. There are also a lot of tables for studying, both inside and outside as well as private cubicles inside.
Other floors can be accessed using the elevator or stairs. On the second floor, there are more computers and rooms for collaborative work as well as book collections. Everything is marked and there are signs everywhere making it easy to find what you are looking for. It is a Christian university, so they are open at 1 pm on Sundays and are closed on most holidays. The hours are modified in the summer and during breaks. There is a café that can be accessed from the outside and inside the library.
Digital Access:
The library website, liberty.edu, is very user friendly. The link for the library is at the top of the homepage on the website. It has so much information about how to use the library and students would be able to access the information they are needing. There are maps of the library, hours, policies and other pertinent information. I never knew they had a place for nursing mothers in the library and that surprised me, but that information was available on the website (Jerry Falwell Library, n.d.). When I performed a search, all of the resources came up in all of the different types of collections and were easy to read. Everything that was available for that particular keyword came up in books, articles, databases, audiovisual, journals and research guides. I clicked on an article and did not have to log in to see that article. I tried another and I would have to log in to access that one because it was on EBSCO. I did have to log in to see the books and databases.
Patrons and Staff
The library serves the students at the university, and they and faculty are the library patrons. The students in the library were predominately white, but there were many other ethnicities as well. Most were young adults, but I did see older students who may have been in master’s or Doctoral programs. My visit was on a Saturday so there weren’t a tremendous number of students in the library, but there were still a lot of students using the facilities. As I stated, anyone can use the library for research, but would need a student ID to check out books or use the computer. I felt welcomed and no one asked if I was a student or parent. There were families on campus, so it isn’t unusual to see them in the library as well. When they have campus tours and College for a Weekend, the library is used in some of the admissions and financial aid process.
There are student workers in the computer rooms and circulation desk who are there to assist students if assistance is needed, monitoring the rooms and cleaning the areas. The library staff is listed on the website, and I was very surprised to see the librarian I volunteered with at my children’s former elementary school, R.S. Payne (see previous blog), now listed as one of the associate deans of the library. She is also the “liaison librarian” that Rubin and Rubin (2020) describe as being part of the professional staff in academic libraries (p. 187). All of the staff, bios and any scholarly work that they may have done is available online under Departmental Directory and Administration.
Collections
The Jerry Falwell library has a curriculum library, audiovisual, music, a beyond books collection, books, e-books, articles, databases, dissertations and theses. The library’s collections reflect the mission of the university, “Training Champions for Christ.” The library uses the Library of Congress Classification system. The beyond books collection is a nice feature for students because it has games, outdoor gear and other items, like tools, available for circulation.
They also have repository of scholarly and creative work called the Scholars Crossing (Jerry Falwell Library, n.d). Anyone can download work based on a particular topic. The work in the collection is divided by major or topic and is easy to navigate. You can access the archives by clicking on the digital collections link on the Archives and Collections page
Pictures
Link for pictures inside library: I did not take pictures inside because I wasn’t sure if the policy restricting pictures of buildings had changed with the new university president. I have included a link for pictures that is in the public domain.
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89b2da8bf2c27439%3A0xefdccde671b6b103!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN5Ogl_PCpcfeSVOdr-G-MUa4eHo2GWvcKfRBe1%3Dw240-h160-k-no!5sliberty%20university%20library%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipN5Ogl_PCpcfeSVOdr-G-MUa4eHo2GWvcKfRBe1&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjXoraj0_b2AhU5gc4BHUvWDlAQoip6BAhWEAM
Jerry Falwell Library, Jerry Falwell Library (n.d). https://www.liberty.edu/library/
Jerry Falwell Library, Jerry Falwell Library (n.d). https://www.liberty.edu/library/books-articles-more/
Rubin, R. E. and Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.) ALA Neal-Schuman.
Shawnne, I thought the “beyond books” collection was a neat way to integrate different, fun things for college students to check out. If they live on campus, they might not have room in their dorms for outside equipment, or even board games for that matter. It is nice that the campus can provide those things for them. The links with the pictures show a beautiful library with lots of natural light! Thanks for posting!
I was surprised that they actually had this type of collection. I have seen students in hammocks on campus and now I wonder if they checked them out of the library.
I have a few friends that attended Liberty University and it’s great to read about a library located there! I’ve visited an academic library and they also didn’t mention it wasn’t exclusively for faculty and students; however, you had to be a student to access the Wi-Fi and borrow books. It’s great that each floor has a designated noise level like the George Mason University Fenwick Library I have visited. That’s one of the best parts I loved about attending this library.
The library is a great resource for non-students if they can spend the day and are able to perform their research. I do know that some local pastors go over and use the library in preparation for their sermons.
Shawnne, I spent some time perusing the library’s website and also found it highly user-friendly and accessible. Liberty has been recognized for its impressive endowment and I’m glad some of that is reflected in the recently-updated, beautiful library space and its digital offerings. It sounds like a pleasant visit — thanks for sharing!
I can say that those funds are reflected in the facilities. It is a relatively new university, having been built in 1971, but it is also maintained and it is reflected in the buildings, like the library.
The beyond books collection sounds like a nice addition to the library for the students. Students living on campus have limited space in dorm rooms so being able to check out board games, outdoor equipment, and tools is a great resource for them. It is nice that they have both Mac and PC computers for patrons to use. This is patrons an option to use the systems they are familiar with.
I was surprised that they had both PCs and Macs. Although there weren’t as many students using the Macs, they are available for those who use them. They also had some kitchen items in the beyond books collection, and since some of the dorms have kitchens, these items can be used without spending any money for those items.
The beyond books collection was really impressive as it enabled the library to serve the students in a really unique way and truly meet their needs as “poor college students”. The library reflects the university’s mission.
You are right Leslie, I was surprised they even had it available for students. They had outdoor gear like telescopes and carts. I wonder if other students donated the items, but it is helpful for freshman, who may not be able to afford to purchase everything needed.