About Us

• Guiding Principles

  Unifying Value 1: Student Success

  • The libraries will provide both virtual and physical spaces for academic and personal support, creating a welcoming hub for all students, regardless of location or learning modality.
  • The libraries will enhance the student support network by partnering and collaborating with student services located in the library and university wide.
  • We will offer generous service hours to accommodate diverse student needs, maximizing accessibility and support.
  • We will create pathways that offer exposure to librarianship and skills development through student employment, Library & Information Science (LIS) courses, coordinated learning with the Library Media Program, and internships.

  Unifying Value 2: Academic and Scholarly Success

  • CWU Libraries employees will provide personalized research support, workshops, and on-demand assistance, empowering students and faculty to navigate assignments, scholarship, and creative pursuits responsibly and effectively.
  • Through intentional partnerships across the university, we will develop information and digital literacy programming to cultivate lifelong learners.
  • We will proactively engage with faculty to increase adoption of affordable course materials, including open educational resources (OER) and library-licensed resources.
  • We will enhance faculty research and scholarship through resources and support.

  Core Value 1: Engagement

  • We will collaborate on initiatives that raise awareness of civic responsibilities and opportunities, encouraging active community participation.
  • We will enhance visibility by promoting our collections and resources through outreach initiatives, fostering ongoing engagement with the university community and the Central Washington region.
  • We will create engaging programs and displays through impactful partnerships that support academic success and personal wellness.
  • The unique physical and digital collections of the CWU Archives & Special Collections, documenting university and regional history, will encourage active community engagement and participation.

  Core Value 2: Belonging

  • We will prioritize the creation of spaces, services, displays, and programming that foster belonging and support student success, and are welcoming and accessible to all.
  • We will continuously evaluate library experiences with an equity lens, to ensure the libraries foster a sense of belonging and community for our users and employees.
  • Through partnerships with university and community organizations we will reinforce our commitment to student belonging, wellness, and support.
  • We will conduct audits of our collections and spaces, establishing representation and accessibility in all aspects of our resources.

  Core Value 3: Stewardship

  • We will proactively analyze the collection for relevance and currency to the curriculum and priorities of the university, while ensuring responsible stewardship of resources.
  • Our collection development will focus on culturally relevant and intentionally representative materials that reflect the voices of the university’s students, faculty, and staff.
  • We will expand our regionally specific unique collections in collaboration with regional partners.
  • We will ensure employee proficiency in emerging technologies to inform programming that develops student skills to meet future workplace and civic demands.
  • By providing libraries personnel with ongoing professional development, we will enforce a commitment to adapt and evolve library services that reflect the changing demographics and needs of our student and faculty population.
• Anti-Racism Action Plan

  CWU Libraries is deeply committed to the dismantling of all forms of racism through our work. We acknowledge historical and current inequalities due to systemic and institutionalized racism in higher education in general and in libraries specifically. We seek to facilitate access to resources for teaching, learning, and research without barrier and without bias.

  We commit to:

  • Proactive removal of barriers to information and resources
  • Promoting historically excluded voices in the academic record
  • Supporting expansion and deepening of university-wide efforts to dismantle systemic racism

  Specific goals and objectives include:

  • Expanding our outreach to first year and first-generation students to cultivate belonging and support academic success
  • Adding and promoting primary resources from historically excluded groups through our collections
  • Collaborating across the University to provide and promote dialogue surrounding issues of race, racism, and anti-racism through purposeful programming
  • Contributing to raising the profile of Africana and Black Studies, El Centro Latinx for Latino and Latin American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian Studies, and Women and Gender Studies
  • Prioritizing the creation and cultivation of a culture of lifelong anti-racist learning and reflection among library staff, student workers, and faculty

History of CWU Libraries

• 1892 Barge Hall

  

  The first library was in Barge Hall in several locations until finally established on the first floor. Library duties were covered by faculty until Mrs. Ella Warner was appointed full time librarian in 1901.

  Learn More
• 1925 Smyser Hall

  

  October of 1925 saw the first dedicated library building at the Washington State Normal School when the building that became Shaw-Smyser Hall was completed.

  Learn More
• 1961 Bouillon Hall

  

  The new library had to have the capacity to hold 250k volumes and accommodate 800 patrons. Designed by famous architect, Fred Bassetti, the new library entered service on September 1, 1961 and was dedicated to Victor J. Bouillon in 1963.

  Learn More
• 1970's Lynnwood & SeaTac Libraries

  

  With the rise of distance learning at Central Washington University, Westside Libraries began offering services at CWU-Lynnwood and CWU-SeaTac.

  Learn More
• 1975 Brooks Library

  

  The current four-story library was completed in 1975 and dedicated to James E. Brooks on November 5, 2003. Today it is a well-loved center of activity on campus, providing books, electronic resources, and diverse study spaces.

  Learn More
• 2004/2005 Lynnwood & Des Moines Libraries

  

  In 2004, the CWU-Lynnwood Library opened in Snoqualmie Hall at Edmonds College. In 2005, the SeaTac Library moved into the Higher Education building at Highline College, eventually becoming the CWU-Des Moines Library.

Committee Composition and Membership

• Committee Composition

  11 members, including 1 ex-officio (the Dean of Libraries or designee), 10 appointed, including 5 faculty (1 CAH, 1 CEPS, 1 COTS, 1 CB, 1 CWU Center), 1 CWU staff, 1 library faculty/staff, and 3 students (appointed by the Associated Students of Central Board of Directors).

  Reports to: Dean of Libraries
  Contact: Allison Douglas, Brooks Library
  Co-Chairs: Amanda Obery and Sahadeb Upretee
  Purpose: Advises the Dean of Libraries on the development of library collections, policies, and services.

• Committee Membership

  Member Type	Position	Member Name	Term Ends
  Ex-officio	Interim Dean of Libraries	Sydney Thompson	n/a
  Appointed	1 Faculty from CAH	Vacant
  Appointed	1 Faculty from CEPS	Amanda Obery	06/15/2025
  Appointed	1 Faculty from CB	Ling Hu	06/15/2027
  Appointed	1 Faculty from COTS	Sahadeb Upretee	06/15/2026
  Appointed	1 Faculty from a CWU Center	Chunming Gao	06/15/2027
  Appointed	1 CWU Exempt/Classified Staff	Elizabeth Haden	06/15/2025
  Appointed	3 CWU Students	Vacant Vacant Vacant
  Appointed	1 Library Staff	Marty Blackson	06/15/2025