University Libraries Popular Books

University Libraries Biography & Facts

A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location, a virtual space, or both. A library's collection normally includes printed materials which may be borrowed, and usually also includes a reference section of publications which may only be utilized inside the premises. Resources such as commercial releases of films, television programmes, other video recordings, radio, music and audio recordings may be available in many formats. These include DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, cassettes, or other applicable formats such as microform. They may also provide access to information, music or other content held on bibliographic databases. Libraries can vary widely in size and may be organised and maintained by a public body such as a government, an institution (such as a school or museum), a corporation, or a private individual. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are trained experts in finding, selecting, circulating and organising information while interpreting information needs and navigating and analysing large amounts of information with a variety of resources. Library buildings often provide quiet areas for studying, as well as common areas for group study and collaboration, and may provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources, such as computers and access to the Internet. The library's clientele and general services offered vary depending on its type: users of a public library have different needs from those of a special library or academic library, for example. Libraries may also be community hubs, where programmes are made available and people engage in lifelong learning. Modern libraries extend their services beyond the physical walls of the building by providing material accessible by electronic means, including from home via the Internet. The services that libraries offer are variously described as library services, information services, or the combination "library and information services", although different institutions and sources define such terminology differently. Etymology The term library is based on the Latin word liber for 'book' or 'document', contained in Latin libraria 'collection of books' and librarium 'container for books'. Other modern languages use derivations from Ancient Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothēkē), originally meaning 'book container', via Latin bibliotheca (cf. French bibliothèque or German Bibliothek). History The history of libraries began with the first efforts to organize collections of documents. The first libraries consisted of archives of the earliest form of writing—the clay tablets in cuneiform script discovered in Sumer, some dating back to 2600 BC. Private or personal libraries made up of written books appeared in classical Greece in the 5th century BC. In the 6th century, at the very close of the Classical period, the great libraries of the Mediterranean world remained those of Constantinople and Alexandria. The Fatimids (r. 909–1171) also possessed many great libraries within their domains. The historian Ibn Abi Tayyi’ describes their palace library, which probably contained the largest collection of literature on earth at the time, as a "wonder of the world". Throughout history, along with bloody massacres, the destruction of libraries has been critical for conquerors who wish to destroy every trace of the vanquished community's recorded memory. A prominent example of this can be found in the Mongol massacre of the Nizaris at Alamut in 1256 and the torching of their library, "the fame of which", boasts the conqueror Juwayni, "had spread throughout the world".The libraries of Timbuktu were established in the fourteenth century and attracted scholars from all over the world. Functions Libraries may provide physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical location, virtual space, or both. A library's collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audiobooks, databases, table games, video games, and other formats. Libraries range widely in size, up to millions of items. Libraries often provide quiet spaces for private studying, common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration, and public facilities for access to their electronic resources and the Internet. Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by people who choose not to—or cannot afford to—purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research.Services offered by a library are variously described as library services, information services, or the combination "library and information services", although different institutions and sources define such terminology differently. Organizations or departments are often called by one of these names. Organization Most libraries have materials arranged in a specified order according to a library classification system, so that items may be located quickly and collections browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where "reference" materials are stored. These reference stacks may be open to selected members of the public while others may require patrons to submit a "stack request" – a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the closed stacks: see List of closed stack libraries. Larger libraries are often divided into departments staffed by both paraprofessionals and professional librarians. Their department names and occupational designations may change depending on their location and the needs of the library. Circulation (or Access Services/Stacks Maintenance) – Handles user accounts and the loaning/returning and shelving of materials. Collection Development – Orders materials and maintains materials budgets. Reference – Staffs a reference desk answering questions from users (using structured reference interviews), instructing users, and developing library programming. Reference may be further broken down by user groups or materials; common collections are children's literature, young adult literature, and genealogy materials. Electronic Library – Responsible for providing information to users via electronic means. Technical Services – Works behind the scenes cataloging and processing new materials and deaccessioning weeded materials.Basic tasks in library management include planning acquisitions (which materials the library should acquire, by purchase or otherwise), classifying and preserving items (especially rare and fragile archival materials such as manuscripts), deaccessioning materials, patron borrowing, a.... Discover the University Libraries popular books. Find the top 100 most popular University Libraries books.

Best Seller University Libraries Books of 2024

  • The New Master Key System synopsis, comments

    The New Master Key System

    Charles F. Haanel

    Charles F. Haanel’s groundbreaking and timeless work returns in this modern interpretation. Reconnect with your utmost potential and discover that you hold the key to manifesting t...

  • Size 12 Is Not Fat synopsis, comments

    Size 12 Is Not Fat

    Meg Cabot

    Heather Wells Rocks!Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the popidol life behind after she gained a dress size or two and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and he...

  • Carved in Bone synopsis, comments

    Carved in Bone

    Jefferson Bass

    There is a patch of ground in Tennessee dedicated to the science of death, where human remains lie exposed to be studied for their secrets. The reallife scientist who founded the "...

  • Ninth House synopsis, comments

    Ninth House

    Leigh Bardugo

    "The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people... Impossible to put down." Stephen KingThe smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo, a mesmeri...

  • 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition synopsis, comments

    1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition

    Western History Collections

    This virtual exhibit highlights the primary source materials of the 1904 Lousiania Purchase Exposition held within the Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma Lib...

  • The Library of Legends synopsis, comments

    The Library of Legends

    Janie Chang

    “The Library of Legends is a gorgeous, poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1...

  • Bartleby, The Scrivener synopsis, comments

    Bartleby, The Scrivener

    Herman Melville

    An aging lawyer hires a new copyist to help with his firm’s workload, and at first he finds himself pleased with his new employee. Bartleby is quiet, efficient and he doesn’t displ...

  • A Preface to Paradise Lost synopsis, comments

    A Preface to Paradise Lost

    C. S. Lewis

    C. S. Lewis’s illuminating reflections on Milton’s Paradise Lost, the seminal classic that profoundly influenced Christian thought as well as Lewis’s own.I...

  • Past Due for Murder synopsis, comments

    Past Due for Murder

    Victoria Gilbert

    After a young woman goes missing during a spring bonfire, library director Amy Webber must wade through the web of lies entangling her small Virginia town Spring has sprung in quai...

  • Through My Eyes synopsis, comments

    Through My Eyes

    Tim Tebow

    Meet Tim Tebow: He grew up playing every sport imaginable, but football was his true passion. Even from an early age, Tim has always had the drive to be the best player and person ...

  • Night Hawks synopsis, comments

    Night Hawks

    Charles Johnson

    From National Book Award winner Charles Johnson, “the celebrated novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and essayist…comes a small treasure, one to be read and considered and ...

  • Roxana synopsis, comments

    Roxana

    Daniel Defoe

    Beginning with an account of her first marriage to a man she describes as a “fool,” Roxana tells the tale of her unusual life in a poignant firstperson narrative. As her respect fo...

  • In Her Feminine Sign synopsis, comments

    In Her Feminine Sign

    Dunya Mikhail

    A brilliant poetic exploration of language and gender, place, and time, seen through the mirror of exileIn Her Feminine Sign follows on the heels of Dunya Mikhail's devastating acc...

  • The Harvard Dictionary of Music synopsis, comments

    The Harvard Dictionary of Music

    Don Michael Randel

    This classic reference work, the best onevolume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and luci...

  • The Wrong Sister synopsis, comments

    The Wrong Sister

    T.E. Woods

    The author of The Fixer delivers “unexpected bombshell twists . . . [in] a standout that is not only worth reading, but devouring” (RT Book Reviews, Top Pick).Someti...

  • Freedom through Correct Knowing synopsis, comments

    Freedom through Correct Knowing

    Geshe Tenzin Namdak, Gelong Tenzin Legtsok, Sera Jey Monastic University Translators’ Training Program & Dalai Lama

    Discover a clear and accessible translation with commentary on key parts of Khedrup Jé’s Clearing Mental Darkness. Composed at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this tran...

  • Collateral Damage synopsis, comments

    Collateral Damage

    Mark Shaw

    If there had been no coverup of Robert Kennedy’s complicity in the murder of Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and he had been prosecuted based on compelling evidence at the time, the assassi...

  • The Real Thing synopsis, comments

    The Real Thing

    Doris Lessing

    "Doris Lessing has a powerful voice and a particular one. It speaks in anger at the distortion of personal relations ion a unsound society, but speaks it with a wit that manages to...

  • The Fall Of The House Of Usher synopsis, comments

    The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    Edgar Allan Poe

    Roderick Usher’s fate is inextricably intertwined with that of his sister, Madeline, and that of their estate. As one falls, so do they all. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is con...

  • Mary Barton synopsis, comments

    Mary Barton

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    After the death of his wife and the disappearance of one of his daughters, millworker John Barton hopes for a better life for his daughter, Mary. Young and lovely, Mary has caught ...

  • The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous synopsis, comments

    The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous

    Cappy McGarr & Ken Burns

    In The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous, Cappy McGarr shares how he  became an Emmynominated cocreator/executive producer of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Hum...

  • Fighting for Justice synopsis, comments

    Fighting for Justice

    Mark Shaw

    “Investigative reporting at its best. Mark Shaw’s original work into the questionable deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen is now focused on the many unanswered ques...

  • The Lady With The Dog synopsis, comments

    The Lady With The Dog

    Anton Chekhov

    While vacationing in Yalta, Gurov, a married, middleaged man, becomes enraptured by a lovely young woman on the beach walking her dog. After a brief affair, the couple part, but de...

  • Araby synopsis, comments

    Araby

    James Joyce

    A young boy in love with his friend’s sister promises to bring her back a gift from the Araby bazaar when he learns she cannot go. It is only later that night that the boy is able ...

  • The Best American Essays 2021 synopsis, comments

    The Best American Essays 2021

    Kathryn Schulz & Robert Atwan

    A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by awardwinning journalist and New Yorker staff writer Kathryn Schulz“The world is abundant even in bad times,” guest editor K...

  • The Life of Saul Bellow synopsis, comments

    The Life of Saul Bellow

    Zachary Leader

    When this second volume of The Life of Saul Bellow opens, Bellow, at fortynine, is at the pinnacle of American letters rich, famous, critically acclaimed. The expected trajectory ...

  • Bones of Betrayal synopsis, comments

    Bones of Betrayal

    Jefferson Bass

    “The forensic thriller meets a formidable slice of history….A riveting mystery with an intricately emotional conclusion.”Washington PostBones of Betrayal is the fourth heartracing ...

  • Never Saw Me Coming synopsis, comments

    Never Saw Me Coming

    Vera Kurian

    Edgar Award Nominee for Best First NovelNamed a New York Times Best Thriller of 2021"I devoured this riveting book through a day of travel...My desire to rush to the end clashed wi...

  • The Purloined Letter synopsis, comments

    The Purloined Letter

    Edgar Allan Poe

    When a missing letter leads to blackmail, detective C. Auguste Dupin must deduce the location of it without raising the suspicion of the blackmailer. “The Purloined Letter” is the ...

  • Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines synopsis, comments

    Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines

    Mark A. McDaniel

    This volume collects the ideas and insights discussed at a novel conference, the Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines Conference, which was he...