We have 3,250,086 volumes on our shelves
From research journals to DVDs and sheet music, everything can be found in the system of libraries supporting Johns Hopkins. In many cases, the libraries are open to the public. In Baltimore and the surrounding region, Johns Hopkins maintains the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the Brody Learning Commons, and the Albert D. Hutzler Reading Room, all on the Homewood campus; the Welch Medical Library, the John Work Garrett Library, the George Peabody Library, and the Friedheim Library in the city of Baltimore; and libraries for regional campuses and centers in Maryland and Washington, D.C., which is also home to SAIS’ Mason Library. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) also has libraries at its campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. The libraries provide 24/7 access to e-books, electronic journals, and special collections including rare books, manuscripts, and archives. Along with millions of books, more than 1.2 million e-books are accessible from the comfort of home.
The Sheridan Libraries
Located in Baltimore, The Sheridan Libraries primarily serve the schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Education, and the Carey Business School. It includes:
The Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE) opened in 1964 and is the university’s principal research library. Our largest library, it was named for the university’s eighth president, whose vision brought together the university’s collection of books, journals, and other scholarly resources. Strengths in the humanities include German and Romance languages, philosophy, and the ancient Near East. In science and engineering, collection strengths include biomedical engineering, chemistry, and environmental engineering. The library also offers an extensive array of electronic resources, including full-text books and journals, specialized databases, and statistical and cartographic data.
The Brody Learning Commons (BLC) is the newest of the Sheridan Libraries and opened in August 2012. Connected to the Eisenhower Library on all floors, the BLC is open 24/7 and features a large quiet reading room, 16 group study rooms, teaching and seminar rooms, and a café. The Commons is also home to the Department of Special Collections and the Department of Conservation and Preservation. Together, the interconnected MSE Library and the Brody Learning Commons counted more than 1.5 million visits in FY2014.
The Albert D. Hutzler Reading Room is commonly referred to as “the Hut” and occupies a central room in Gilman Hall, the oldest academic building on the Homewood campus. It features a high ceiling and beautiful stained-glass windows bearing the printers’ marks of 18 Renaissance printers.
The John Work Garrett Library is located in Evergreen Museum & Library, the former residence of Ambassador John Work Garrett and his wife, Alice Warder Garrett. The house was bequeathed to the university in 1942, and the library contains about 28,600 volumes. The collection, which can be used by appointment, features 16thand 17th-century English literature, especially the works of Shakespeare, Bacon, Spenser, and Milton. Also strong in natural history, the library has some of the most important and beautiful ornithological works ever produced by John James Audubon, John Gould, and Alexander Wilson. The Fowler Architectural Collection focuses on early editions of Vitruvius and the great Renaissance architects Alberti, Serlio, Palladio, Vignola, and Scamozzi.
The George Peabody Library dates from the founding of the Peabody Institute in 1857. In 1982, the Peabody Library became part of the Eisenhower Library’s Special Collections department. Reflecting the scholarly interests of the 19th century, the library’s 300,000-volume collection is particularly strong in religion, British art, architecture, topography, and history; American history, biography, and literature; Romance languages and literature; history of science; and geography, exploration, and travel. The George Peabody Library, designed by Baltimore architect Edmund G. Lind, is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Its magnificent neo-Grec interior features an atrium surrounded by five tiers of ornamental cast-iron balconies, gold-scalloped columns, and a latticed skylight more than 60 feet above a black-andwhite marble floor.
Other University Libraries:
The William H. Welch Medical Library collects current scholarly information that supports the research, clinical, administrative, and educational needs of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Because the library’s emphasis is on providing materials at point of need, the collection is primarily in electronic format. It covers health, the practice of medicine and related biomedical and allied health care disciplines, public health and related disciplines, nursing, research literature, methodological literature, reviews or state-of-theart reports, and in-depth, authoritative analyses of areas influencing biomedicine and health care. The electronic collection includes more than 5,000 journals, more than 400 databases, and more than 8,000 e-books. The WelDoc Service provides access to materials not in the Hopkins collections. The History of Medicine collection on the third floor of the Welch Building is a comprehensive collection, print and electronic, of history of medicine materials.
The Arthur Friedheim Music Library is one of the largest and oldest music collections in the country. Located in Peabody’s Leakin Hall, it serves the faculty, staff, and students at the Peabody Institute and Johns Hopkins University, as well as the general public. Holdings include more than 200,000 books, scores, and periodicals; 40,000 sound recordings in all formats; 3,000 DVDs and videos; microform; and more than 5,400 linear feet of archival and special collections. The Friedheim Library offers 24-hour electronic access, both on and off campus, to many full-text journals, databases, and streaming media.
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Library The research library at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies in China features more than 120,000 volumes in English and Chinese, 400 periodicals, and access to thousands of electronic resources held by both Johns Hopkins and Nanjing University. It is the only uncensored, open-stack library on the mainland of the People’s Republic of China. Floor-to-ceiling windows, reading carrels, couches, and meeting rooms provide students with a pleasing study environment.
The Sydney R. and Elsa W. Mason Library offers comprehensive library services to SAIS students, faculty, and staff. It is located on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors of the Nitze Building, at 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Its goals include developing and preserving collections that support the curriculum and research interests of the SAIS community and providing convenient and seamless access to print, electronic, and other resources to facilitate research and expand scholarship.
Robert H. Evans Library at SAIS Europe in Bologna, Italy, is dedicated to the memory of Evans, a distinguished alumnus from the class of 1960 and director of the center from 1992 to 2003. The collection consists of more than 85,000 volumes, specializing in international economics, international relations, contemporary history, international law, political science, and European history and politics. There are strong holdings in the foreign relations of the United States, the Atlantic Alliance and European integration, and an extensive collection of English-language materials on Italian government and politics. The library’s primary mission is to support the educational goals of the SAIS community, but it is also open to local and visiting readers.
Museums:
The university is also home to three museums— the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum, Homewood Museum, and Evergreen Museum & Library. All three are open to the public for tours, exhibitions, lectures, and other events, and are increasingly involved in the academic life of the university.
The Evergreen Museum & Library is renowned for its diverse holdings of Asian, European, and American art since its opening in 1990. Of particular interest are Japanese lacquerware, art glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany, postimpressionist paintings, the John Work Garrett Library of rare books and manuscripts, and the only known theater designed by revolutionary stage designer Léon Bakst. The former Italianate residence of two generations of Baltimore’s philanthropic Garrett family (1878–1952), the museum offers a unique perspective on the evolution of American collecting from the post-Civil War industrial revolution to the modern jet age. Contemporary artists are regularly invited to respond to the historic property, and the museum presents exhibitions and programs that explore the Garretts’ legacy as art patrons.
The Homewood Museum is one of the finest extant examples of American Federal architecture and interior design. Homewood was built in 1802 for newlyweds Charles and Harriet Chew Carroll. The 130-acre property became the university’s suburban campus a century later with the historic house serving as architectural inspiration for campus buildings. The furnishings of Homewood Museum, a National Historic Landmark that opened to the public in 1987, reflect the elegant opulence of the Carroll family’s occupancy (1802–1832). With American and imported furniture, ceramics, silver, and other fine and decorative art objects, the museum’s period interiors reflect the ideals and culture of a new nation while offering visitors an intimate look at the early 19th-century lifestyle of a prominent Maryland family.
The Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum was founded in 1882 to encourage and enliven the study of the ancient world through the close study of artifacts. The installation highlights nearly 700 archaeological objects from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Near East, and the ancient Americas, all exhibited in the custom-built museum facility set within the newly renovated Gilman Hall atrium.