The Helen K. and James S. Copley Library, located on the west end of the campus, currently houses 500,000 volumes. Our collections include books, journals, reference works, government documents, pamphlets, newspapers in many languages, maps, videos, sound recordings, microforms and rare books.

Nine library faculty and additional professional and support staff make the collection available to the University community.

Copley Library is open 97.5 hours each week and its resources are organized in accessible, open stacks. Library faculty provide extensive reference service and spend time working individually with students as they complete assignments and prepare papers, speeches, and research reports of all kinds.

The libraries at USD are members of The San Diego Library Circuit Consortium, which maintains a database linking university libraries in the region. Through this consortium USD students and faculty can easily access library materials from other campuses. A delivery system enables timely movement of materials from one campus to another.

In addition to its own collection and The Library Circuit, Copley Library has Internet connections with academic and large public libraries throughout the world and with major bibliographic and information databases and makes this information available through the World Wide Web both inside the library and also to the dorms, offices and homes of USD students and employees. The library currently subscribes to 90 online databases providing access to over 26,000 electronic journals.

The library has 48 computer workstations for student use and includes both wired and wireless networks for patrons with their own laptop computers. Photocopy machines and microform readers/printers are available for student use. Study spaces are available for over 800 students and include group study areas, quiet carrels, and pleasant reading rooms furnished with antiques and contemporary art. Return to Top