Fact Sheet: The NC State University Libraries

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Hunt Library at sunset, lit from within

Our Services And Expertise—enabling Success For Students And Researchers

  • Librarians consult and collaborate with faculty and students in all areas of teaching, learning, and research
  • Reference, research support, interlibrary loan, and collection access services for the NC State community
  • Course reserve service with all required textbooks and 24-hour access to electronic reserves
  • "Course Tools" for students—a guide to library resources for every course at the university
  • Technology Lending: laptops, iPads, cameras, calculators, gaming, virtual reality tools, and more
  • Data science, visualization, digital media, and Geographic Information System services
  • Workshops and events complementing curricula and research in all disciplines
  • Open Knowledge Center, collaborating with scholars on open knowledge, intellectual property, and copyright issues
  • Only full U.S. patent and trademark depository in the region
  • Host for NC LIVE, offering a wide array of digital resources to all North Carolina residents

Our Spaces: The most used resource on campus

Two main libraries—the D. H. Hill Jr. Library and the James B. Hunt Jr. Library—as well as the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library, the Natural Resources Library, and the William Rand Kenan Jr. Library of Veterinary Medicine, with more than 2.5 million total user visits per year.

People chatting in a colorful room with large windows, a big screen, and cool chairs

Key spaces include:

  • Learning Commons, Faculty Research Commons, Graduate Student Commons
  • Large-scale, immersive visualization spaces at the Hill and Hunt Libraries
  • Digital media creation facilities
  • Dataspace (Hunt) and Data Experience Lab (Hill) with advanced computing, software, training, and consultation
  • iPearl Immersion Theater for panoramic display of faculty and student work (Hunt)
  • iPearl Innovation Studio features unique, interactive displays and emerging technologies (Hill)
  • Makerspace offering 3D printing and scanning and other specialized tools (Hill)
  • Gaming and VR Studio for creating and experimenting with virtual worlds (Hill)
  • Special Collections Reading Room and Exhibit Gallery (Hill)

Our Collection: An engine for research and learning

Hunt Library Rain Garden Reading Room. An open space with groups of students, ample seating, low bookshelves, and large windows.

Strengths in agriculture, architecture, biological sciences, design, engineering, entomology, forest resources, mathematics, physical sciences, statistics, textiles, and veterinary medicine.

  • More than 3.2 million titles, and 122,737 print and electronic serial subscriptions (122,241 of them electronic)
  • 765 bibliographic databases and many electronic full-text and image collections
  • Over 14.5 million total uses of the collection in 2022/23
  • More than 3.6 million full-text journal article downloads per year
  • Access to over 1.2 million electronic books
  • Cross-searching capabilities and Tripsaver delivery service with the Triangle Research Libraries Network (NC State, Duke, NC Central, and UNC–Chapel Hill)
  • Rare and unique materials in all formats and documentation of university history. Highlights include premier archives in architecture, entomology, simulation, and zoological health.

Our Honors: Recognition for an adventurous spirit

ALA Library Award Celebration

  • Staff winners of 14 “Movers and Shakers” awards from Library Journal (2002-2023)
  • 2020 ALA/ProQuest “Award for Innovation” for significant contributions to electronic collections management
  • 2019 LITA/LIbrary Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication for Continuing Education in Library and Information Science for the "Data Science and Visualization Institute for Librarians"
  • 2018 ALA "Information Today Library of the Future Award" for innovative information technology training programs
  • 2016 National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS)
  • 2014 American Institute of Architects (AIA) “Education Facility Design Award” for the Hunt Library
  • 2014 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award for the Hunt Library communications campaign
  • 2014 Stanford Prize for Innovation in Research Libraries for the Hunt Library as high-technology research platform
  • 2014 ALA "Cutting-Edge Technology" award for My #HuntLibrary social media site
  • James B. Hunt Jr. Library recognized in American Libraries' 2013 Library Design Showcase
  • 2013 AIA/ALA Building Award for the James B. Hunt Jr. Library
  • 2000 "ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award"— first university library to win this award

NC State University

The facts

  • Public, land-grant institution founded in 1887
  • More than 37,800 students from 103 countries, including over 9,900 graduate students
  • More than 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered through 68 departments
  • Total campus area covers 2,100 acres, plus more than 100,000 acres in farms, forests, and other research facilities
  • $460 million in new sponsored research awards in 2022/23

Rankings

  • #28 among the top public universities in the nation (U.S. News & World Report)
  • #60 among universities nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
  • #2 best public college in North Carolina for value (Money)
  • Top 1% of universities worldwide (Center for World University Rankings)
  • #4 for undergraduate entrepreneurship in the South (Princeton Review)

Location—Research Triangle Park, one of the nation's premier concentrations of research and industry

  • Raleigh and Durham, Best Places to Live (U.S. News & World Report)
  • NC State University has been ranked as the number-one best employer in North Carolina (Forbes)