Welcome to the University Library!

This guide will lead you on a tour of the University Library. When you have completed it, you will have a good idea of the layout of the building, and you will have learned about some of the services and materials available in the Library.

1. The tour begins on the First Floor of the Library, at the front door. The very first room to the left of the entrance is the Library Classroom (Room 104) where Library Faculty teach. Other classes also meet in Room 104. On the wall next to the Classroom’s entrance are three payphones on the wall.
    
2. Once you enter the lobby, you will see the Circulation Desk immediately to your left. Library materials, including materials requested from other libraries, can be checked out and returned here. This is also where you register your library barcode so that you can borrow books and access the Libraries’ many online services.
    
3. To your right is the 24-Hour Study Room. The Daily Grind Coffee Cart sells food and beverages there during the Spring and Fall semesters. All food must be consumed in the room, but you may carry a beverage into the Library IF it is in a covered travel mug or a capped bottle.
    
4. As you leave the Reserves area, you will see New Books and computers across the lobby. The computers are for accessing the HELIN Catalog and other online materials.
    
5. At the center staircase on your right, you will find the Floor Directory and Map. Each level of the Library has a Directory and Map at the staircase.
    
6. The Reference Desk is located on the right just past the center staircase. The Desk is staffed most of the hours the Library is open. Librarians are available to answer your questions about the Library and to help you locate materials and information.
    
7. Behind the Reference Desk on the left is the Reference Online Center (ROC), where you may search the Library’s many reference databases. (ROC computers may be used only for searching electronic databases.) If you need help with your search, ask a Reference Librarian or a Graduate Assistant at the Reference Desk.
    
8. The Reference Stacks begin at the edge of the Reference Online Center and extend into the corner of the building. The Reference Stacks contain encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, older indexes and abstracts and other reference sources. These materials do not circulate. The Curriculum Materials Library (Room 115) is located at the end of the Reference Stacks.
    
9. The Current Periodicals/Reserves Room is located at the far end of the First Floor. The Reserves Desk is on the right. It is where you can find materials that have been set aside by faculty to be used in a particular course, or get help accessing the E-Reserves materials. A valid library card is required for borrowing Reserves items. The Current Periodicals are on the opposite side of the room. The latest issues of newspapers and periodicals are shelved in call number order. (Older issues of periodicals are either on the Lower Level or in microforms on the Second Floor.) Remember: These are only the titles with print subscriptions. Many more are only available electronically.
    
10. As you return to the lobby, you will see the Teaching-Learning Technology Center. Workshops on Library electronic databases are often conducted in this room. Faculty may make arrangements with the Reference subject specialists for specific subject-oriented instruction.
     
11. Just past that Center are the offices for Government Publications. The URI Library is a partial depository for materials published by the Federal Government ad the RI State Government. The Govt Pub and Sta Pub Collections are behind the offices.
     
12. Now return to the central staircase and go down the stairs to the Lower Level. If you turn to the left when you leave the stairs you will see the Student Computing Facility. Access to this facility requires you to have a URI student, faculty or staff ID. There you can use e-mail, type papers, use statistical packages and access the Internet. Most of the rest of the floor contains the Bound Serials, older issues or periodicals which have been bound together in volumes for preservation.  They are shelved in call number order.
     
13. Re-enter the main stairwell and climb to the Second Floor. Here you will find books with call numbers starting in the letters Q through Z.
     
14. Turn to your right and you will see the Special Collections, located right next to the stairwell. Here you will find the University Archives, the Rhode Island Collection, rare books, the manuscript collection, and the New Leaves Press. All materials must be used in the room, which is open from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday.
     
15. Leaving Special Collections, turn right again and enter the Media Resources Center. The MRC houses a substantial video and DVD collection as well as other audiovisual materials.
     
16. Right outside the MRC is the Microform Area. Newspapers, ERIC documents, and the back issues of certain periodicals are available on microfiche or microfilm. Reader/printers are also available. Assistance with microform is available from the Media Resources Center during most hours the Library is open.
     
17. The Library Administration is in the office suite in the front of this floor.  It includes Conference Rooms which are frequently used by campus organizations.
     
18. Go back to the central staircase and go up to the Third Floor.This is where books with the call numbers beginning  A through P are shelved. If you were to turn left you will see the Galanti Lounge, a meeting room frequently used for various campus functions. There is a Walk Through Time picture history of the University circling this floor.
     
19. When you return to the First Floor you might want to stop at the Library Gallery to enjoy the current art or history exhibit. The Gallery is adjacent to the Reserves Desk in the corner of the building.

Additional information:

• There are two elevators in the building, one across from the Circulation Desk and the other in the Reference Stacks.

• Restrooms and copy machines are located on each floor. The floor plans near the central stairs will show the exact locations.

• Individual research/study carrels and group study carrels are located on the Second and Third Floors. Information about them is at http://www.uri.edu/library/policies/carrels/carrels.html.

SCK 7/95, Rev. 2/97, 8/97; MCM 7/98; SCK 7/99; AJR 8/02; MJK 5/06; AKI 2/07, 8/07

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