In this section

• About the Library
• From the Director
• Mission and Vision
• Staff
• Hours
• Newsletter

 

 

Welcome to the Simmons Library

From the Director:

Simmons College is preparing students to succeed in the information age, the digital age, and in a knowledge-based economy. Thanks to visionary leadership and planning, we offer students quality education on a campus being transformed for 21st century scholarship. At the heart of that transformation - and the Simmons community - is our new library.

The Library as Place

In recognition of the integral role of the Simmons Library in the successful implementation of the educational goals and mission of the university, the Board of Trustees approved a major renovation and expansion for the Library in Jan 2003.

The project included razing the former 2-story library building, and renovating and expanding the adjacent 5-story Lefavour Hall to provide a new 121,000 square feet multiuse facility, an increase of 46,700 sf over the previous buildings. The new Beatley Library, located within Lefavour Hall, is 45,500 sf, increasing library space by 43%. Lefavour Hall also houses administrative departments: Advancement, Sponsored Research and Technology; academic departments: Communications and Modern Languages; classrooms, event spaces and a café.

The Building In Brief

• Beatley Library: 45,500 sf, shelving for 240,000 volumes, 14 group rooms for students, 2 college meeting spaces, 552 study seats, a 22 seat library instruction classroom, a 22 seat media listening and viewing room, a 14 seat Archives Reading Room, 155 computer workstations and 39 in-house circulating laptops.
• Lefavour Hall: 121,000 sf, 7 college meeting rooms, 7 college classrooms, 2 college instructional computing classrooms, cafe.

Library Floor Plans

Library Highlights

• Dramatic glass tower providing a new entrance to campus and the Library. Secure single point of entry to the Library from the first level of the multi-use Lefavour Hall building.
• Welcoming “ living room ” immediately inside the Library entrance, providing lounge seating and browsing of displays of New Books, 1200 Current Periodicals, and Diversions books and magazines (popular reading).
• Comfortable, productive study environment encouraged through generous windows that maximize natural light, wifi throughout, colorful fabrics, oversized cherry wood tables and carrels, accent table lights.
• Shelving for 240,000 volumes through a mix of traditional shelves, periodical display shelves, and easy push-button operated compact shelving.
• 552 individual and collaborative study seats of many types, including private study carrels, large cherry wood tables, and soft lounge seating with foot stools and end tables. 90% of seats provide power hook-ups, with the remaining soft seating in quiet, secluded study areas designed to appeal to those who prefer to work away from the tapping of keyboards.
• 14 high tech group study rooms respond to the shift towards collaborative learning, group projects, and team based work. Students can talk as a group, practice a presentation, do a mock interview, and meet with a librarian, professor, writing tutor or technology specialist. All rooms are technology ready to have a laptop plugged in; many provide a built-in projector, and some even include video recording capabilities.
• New 22 student Library Instruction Classroom facilitates hands-on teaching and learning of information literacy skills that promote academic, professional, and personal success in today’s environment of rapidly-changing technology. An additional 2 computing classrooms and 7 flexible classrooms are in Lefavour Hall.
• 22 seat Media Viewing and Listening room, adjacent to the media collections. Students can watch a film on DVD, view physical therapy demonstrations, or listen to language instruction.
• New event and meeting spaces (2 in the Library and 7 in Lefavour Hall) are available to be booked by faculty, staff and students through the College’s Conferences and Events Office.
• Reference Desk (research assistance), Circulation, Reserves & Inter-Library Loan Desk, and Technology Desk (technical assistance/Student Help desk): 3 service points co-located immediately inside the main entrance, in the Information Commons , offer convenient and comprehensive assistance for all users.
• The Information Commons’ 155 PC and Mac workstations, 39 laptops for check-ou t for use throughout the building, and 8 printers help make technology easily accessible and user-centric by providing consistent technology throughout the building. Instead of having to go one place for ereserve readings, another to search the web, and another to use Word and Powerpoint, a student can do all these on every computer.
• New Archives Reading Room provides an attractive and comfortable place for research as well as display space for historical materials. S pecial environmental conditions for storing mate rials in the Archives vault.
• A self check-out station opposite the Circulation/Reserves Desk allows users to check out their own materials.
• Sustainable/green elements : energy efficient windows; sophisticated climate control including heat recovery system; multiple lighting zones for flexible programming; attractive, quiet and sustainable cork flooring.

Daphne Harrington,
Library Director

 

Mission

• The Simmons Library is the gateway to the world's knowledge for the Simmons College community. Our resources and services stimulate scholarship and learning, and lead individuals to become discerning users of information and ideas.

 

Vision

The Simmons Library is a welcoming, active, vibrant part of the community that:

• Provides a state-of-the-art place for learning, study and reflection
• Delivers access to information that supports the scholarly needs of all members of our community
• Advances information-literacy by teaching individuals how to find and apply the best information for each research need
• Contributes to innovation in the profession, including the active development of future librarians

 

The Simmons College Library
The main Simmons College Library houses the bulk of the more than 210,000 volumes and over 1,700 periodical subscriptions owned by Simmons, as well as housing a rapidly expanding collection of media materials. A comprehensive reference collection, plus special resources in areas such as women's studies and juvenile literature, are major assets of the Library. Special collections and services include:

• Career Resources: The Career Resource collections, located in P-304E (One Palace Road), included specialized materials on career planning, job hunting, employer and graduate school information.
• College Archives: The Simmons College Archives is located in the Main College Building, Room E103. The holdings include: official College records and publications, manuscript collections, books, photographs, theses, and other materials which relate to the history and development of Simmons College and its role in the history of professional education for women. Students/researchers welcome by appointment.
• Education: The collections for the Simmons College Education Department support learning, teaching, and research for the undergraduate and graduate programs in General Education, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Special Education. The collections also support graduate programs in Urban Elementary Education, and Education Leadership. The collections contain materials devoted to supporting both professional and subject competency, including a separate Curriculum Collection with resources designed to aid in curriculum development.
• Health Studies: The collections for the Simmons College School for Health Sciences (SHS) support learning, teaching, and research for the programs in Health Care Administration, Nursing, Nutrition, and Physical Therapy. The collections include materials devoted to topics in research methods and clinical practice, in addition to standard professional reference sources.
• Library & Information Science: The collections for the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) are located on the fourth floor of the Simmons Library. This is a highly specialized collection, containing both historic and current material on book publishing, library management and information services.
• Management: The Library of the Simmons College School of Management (SOM) is located at 409 Commonwealth Avenue. The SOM Library houses special collections devoted to business and women in management.
• Social Work: The collections for the Simmons College School of Social Work (SSW) serves to support the curriculum taught by the faculty of the School of Social Work. The collections contain materials dealing with subjects such as: social policy, social action, psychology and human development, mental health issues, domestic violence, theories of and the practical application of counseling and therapies, children and family issues, GLBT issues, poverty, racism and oppression, behavioral health, and social science research. The College Archives also house historic materials related to the development of social work in Boston, and the formation of the School of Social Work at Simmons.

Page updated: September 1, 2008