ABOUT THE LIBRARY

In addition to the traditional Circulation and Reference desks staffed by knowledgeable staff, the Library also has computer workstations and wireless Internet access available for student use on both the first and second floors. Our second floor computer lab features our Language Learning Center, which has rapidly become an integral part of the educational resources at AMU. Not only does it provide educational technology in support of the university classes in Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, and Italian, but our subscription to Mango Languages program also provides access to over 70 languages, including: Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, German, Modern Greek, and Russian.

Study space is also an important factor in the library, as there is seating for 375 throughout the building, with study spaces ranging in size from single-person desks to tables for four or even six.  For group-study projects, we have several study rooms available for use, in addition to the several general classrooms located on the first and second floors.

The reference desk, open five days a week, provides assistance in locating materials for research papers as well as aid in citing those materials.  If materials that the Library does not own are needed by faculty or students, inter-library loans are available.  For quick assistance, the Library also has Ask a Librarian, Florida’s Virtual Reference Service, available online 24/7.

The Library also features various works of art from Tom Monaghan’s personal collection, with some available for purchase, as well as works by Karen Laub-Novak and other donations.  There are also special exhibitions each semester, with past exhibitions including the Frank Lloyd Wright Wasmuth Portfolio Lithographs, professional photographs of Márton Váró’s creation of the Annunciation Sculpture, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Still Photography.  In addition, we also have a Featured Faculty Publications display located on the first floor, in which we show a small sampling of the recent publications which our faculty have either directly authored or to which they have contributed.

Our founders wall features the names of the Originating Founders, and the first 20,000 donors to the University.

FIRST FLOOR

Current Periodicals
General Collection (L-Z)
Oversize Collection (M-Z)
Reference Collection
Computers and Printer
Circulation Desk

SECOND FLOOR

Audiovisual Collection
General Collection (A-K)
Oversize Collection (A-L)
Group study rooms (219 & 233)
Periodical back issues (Ask at the Circulation Desk for assistance)
Language Learning Center
Rare Books and Special Collections (Ask at the Circulation Desk for Assistance)

New Borrower Application

Minor Borrower Application

Course Reserve Request Form

Gift-in-Kind

Visiting Scholar

Access and Borrowing Policies

Circulation Policy

Collection Development Policy

Collection Development Policy-Films

Course Reserve Policy

Donation Policy

Food and Drink Policy

Interlibrary Loan Policy

Noise Policy

Pope John Paul II writes in Ex Corde Ecclesiae that “The basic mission of a University is a continuous quest for truth through its research, and the preservation and communication of knowledge for the good of society.” The mission of the Ave Maria University Library is to support that quest for truth by assembling resources that help students and faculty do research in every subject that the University teaches. It is our goal to use the most up-to-date techniques and practices and to employ a highly-trained and motivated staff in order to provide exceptional library service to the Ave Maria University community.

Besides our large General Collection, the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections houses print and manuscript documents, fine bindings, archives, and artwork, with the books alone totaling about 10,000 volumes.  Our largest collection, Catholic Americana, contains 8,000 volumes, on topics ranging from the history of local churches within the U.S. to selections of anti-Catholic literature from the past two centuries.  Selected volumes from this collection are in a themed display that is changed on a monthly basis, located on the first floor.  Other collections include, among others, our Rare Books Collection, which contains such items as sixty original leaves from famous and rare Bibles and Testaments, dating from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Century; our Natural Family Planning Collection, which includes about 1000 volumes on topics such as marriage and morality, and over 100 boxes of original materials, such as correspondence of the pioneers in the NFP movement in the United States and abroad; and the John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement Collection, which features books pertaining to the Oxford movement as well as manuscript letters by Newman.  Most items from these collections are available for viewing, upon request, in our Rare Books Reading Room, located on the second floor.