Hunter Library
Hunter Library provides high-quality intellectual content to support the teaching, research and lifelong learning activities of the Western Carolina University community. Free and open access to the library’s physical and electronic collections is available to WCU students, faculty and staff members. Local community residents may purchase an NC resident’s card ($10 per year) which entitles them to some library privileges. Hunter’s librarians are subject specialists who teach patrons to find, evaluate, and use quality information. They provide research assistance by telephone, e-mail, online chat, in person at the reference desk or by appointment. The library’s website at http://www.wcu.edu/library/ is a gateway to a wealth of information, much of which is not available free on the Internet.
Yearly totals shown below are for July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011.
Patrons
Total gate count in a typical week: 25,192
Online visits to the library website last year: 589,227
Total checkouts last year (books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials): 125,550
Collections
Books, serial back files and other printed materials: 620,010
E-books – 303,405
Microforms: 1.563,076
Media (DVDs, CDs, other audiovisual materials): 17,663
Other materials (serial back files and microfilm);
Serial subscriptions: 7,221
Online research databases: 157
Services
Items checked out last year – 125,550
Reference assistance - More than 430 transactions in a typical week
Instruction – 235 classes each year, teaching research skills to more than 5,145 students.
Online visits to research guides last year: 98,248
Items provided to patrons at Appalachian State University and UNCA via ABC Express: 8,003
Items obtained for WCU patrons from Appalachian State University and UNCA via ABC Express: 7,926
Items provided to patrons at non-Western North Carolina Library Network libraries through interlibrary lending: 2,160
Items borrowed for WCU patrons from non-Western North Carolina Library Network libraries through interlibrary borrowing: 3,767
(Western North Carolina Library Network: WCU, ASU, UNCA)
Building and Personnel
Full-time Staff: 56
Building: Originally built in 1953, expanded in 1967 and 1983.
Size: 154,886 square feet, including three floors and two mezzanines
Seating capacity: 700
Other resources located in the library: Writing and Learning Commons, IT help desk, computer lab, film-viewing rooms, classrooms, special rooms for group or private study and research, Java City coffee shop, wireless access throughout.