Four libraries make up system that’s not just open to students, faculty, alumni
LAS VEGAS – There is a place in Las Vegas where the city’s history is stored, where researchers come from across the world to use information housed in four libraries and where business workshops, learning spaces and services help residents feed their minds. The place is the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries, and although it sounds exclusive, it’s open to every member of the community who wants to learn, despite the fact they aren’t UNLV students, professors or faculty. The UNLV Libraries are for everyone.
Aside from being the only research library in Southern Nevada, the UNLV Libraries include the Lied, Architecture Studies, Curriculum Materials and Music libraries as well. It has come a long way from its beginnings with 1,800 volumes in the Las Vegas High School (now Las Vegas Academy) auditorium in 1955. Known then as the Southern Regional Division of the University of Nevada, UNLV has come into its own with library renovations and a four-story addition to the Lied Library on the UNLV campus.
Although the Libraries are today located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, they are open to the public. The UNLV Libraries offers more than 975,000 volumes, 1.75 million microforms, 8,000 series subscriptions, 13,500 media materials, 1.1 million state and federal government documents, 20,000 maps, 29,000 music scores and 9,500 classical and jazz recordings.
Since its inception, UNLV Libraries has had an entire team dedicated to providing programming and resources available to the entire community. The Business by the Book Workshop Series offers free training to local small-business owners on how to navigate the expansive databases. The Libraries also serves students in UNLV’s Shadow Lane and Singapore campuses by providing them with remote access. Its Center for Gaming Research and the Oral History Research Center add great depth to the city.
“The UNLV Libraries is on point to teach all learners, past, present and future, how to be critical consumers of information in the digital age,” said Patricia Iannuzzi, dean of UNLV Libraries. “These lifelong information literacy skills are central to success in academic, professional and personal life. As the only research library in Southern Nevada, we are here for all members of our community.”
Researchers, and Las Vegans interested in the city’s history, will find books, pamphlets, posters, serials and periodicals, scrapbooks, archives and manuscripts, maps, architectural drawings, photographs, video and audio tapes documenting the history, culture and physical environment of Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas may be a young city, but it has a rich history, and it’s all documented here,” Iannuzzi said. “With more than 70,000 UNLV alumni living and working in Southern Nevada, the UNLV Libraries belong to the residents who keep our city running, teach our children, treat our illnesses and defend our cases. There is something here for everyone who wants to learn.”