History and Fast Facts
Circulation and Access
Opening Timeline
- 1856
Old College Library Established
In 1856, just five years after the founding of Northwestern, the first modest library opened in the upper reaches of Old College. It held only a few thousand books.
- 1894
Orrington Lunt Library Established
In 1894, a University co-founder contributed much of the funding (as well as the name) for Orrington Lunt Library. At the time, a local paper called it for “one of the finest, if not the finest college library in the West.”
- 1933
Deering Library Established
After years in which window ledges, stairways, desks, and even seating in Lunt Library were all gradually being converted into storage space to accommodate this growing collection, Northwestern opened Charles Deering Memorial Library with a bequest by agricultural equipment magnate Charles Deering. The library, designed by prolific architect James Gamble Rogers, was built to emulate King’s College Chapel. With a capacity of 500,000 volumes and seating for 900 readers, the library solved the space issue for many years. It remains one of the principal landmarks of campus to this day.
- 1970
University Library Established
The opening of the University Library in 1970 marked a technological leap forward with the implementation of an online circulation system, showcasing the library's forward-thinking ethos. The science and engineering library in Tech moved to the new Seeley G. Mudd Library and became the primary library of north campus.
- 1977
Mudd Library Established
The science and engineering library in Tech moved to the new Seeley G. Mudd Library and became the primary library of north campus.
- 2011
Oak Grove Library Center Opened
In 2011, under the direction of Dean of Libraries Sarah Pritchard, the libraries opened the Oak Grove Library Center, an off-site shelving facility that holds low-circulation books, journals and other materials in a climate-controlled environment. It is the most recent and perhaps final salvo in the struggle to find an answer to the eternal quest for adequate space.
References: Caldbeck, E., & Garrett, J. (2003). Northwestern University Libraries. In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. (pp. 2165-2178). New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
*Including Galter Health Sciences Library and Pritzker Legal Research Center
Instruction and Research Services
For the 2024-25 academic year