Waterfield Library

Harry Lee Waterfield Library

The Waterfield Library is named in honor of Harry Lee Waterfield, a 1932 Murray State University alumnus and former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky. The building has served as the central library since 1978.

Circulating Books

The MSU libraries use the Library of Congress Classification System. Circulating books are located on the lower level of Waterfield Library. If you cannot locate a book in the general circulating collection, ask for assistance at the circulation desk in the main lobby.

Government Documents

As a selective depository for United States documents, Waterfield Library contains more than 185,000 items in the government documents collection, which is housed on the south end of the Reference Room in Waterfield Library. Most of the items are classified by Superintendent of Documents numbers and are not listed in the online catalog. For further information contact, Government Documents (809-4799).

Map Collection

The map collection is housed in metal cabinets on the north end of the lower level in Waterfield Library. Maps are organized by cabinet and drawer numbers, and indexes are provided to facilitate access to the collection. Maps may be checked out at the circulation desk. The collection includes USGS topographic maps in a wide variety of scales, notably (e.g. 1:24,000); state mineral resource maps; state highway maps; National Geographic magazine inserts; 19th century reproductions; and World War II battle maps. Additional non-circulating maps are available in the reference and government documents collections.

Media and Curriculum Resources Hours

Media and Curriculum Resources is located on the south end of the lower level of Waterfield Library . The collection provides curriculum guides for students in teacher education programs. It also houses audiovisual items including filmstrips, audio cassettes, records, kits and games, reel-to-reel tapes, videocassettes, transparencies, motion pictures, and computer software. For further information contact Media and Curriculum Resources (809-2850).

Microforms

The Microforms Room, at the north end of the Reference Room, contains journals and newspapers on microfilm, ERIC documents on microfiche, and nearly 100 other documents and collections. Several microfilm and microfiche readers, one microfilm copier, and one microfiche copier are also available. There is a fee for copies.

NASA Educators Resource Center Hours

The NASA Educators Resource Center, located in the Media and Curriculum Resources room on the lower level of Waterfield Library, is an educational outreach program of the NASA Langley Research Center. The center provides educators in Kentucky and the surrounding region with an easily accessible source of state-of-the-art aerospace materials which can be incorporated into the classroom at all levels. These resources reflect NASA's aerospace research and technology and relate to such curriculum areas as life science, physical science, space science, computer science, astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and career guidance. For further information, contact Media and Curriculum Resources (809-2850).

Periodicals

The periodicals collection, arranged alphabetically by title, contains over 2,000 journal and newspaper subscriptions. The most recent issues are housed at the south end of the lobby in Waterfield Library. Back issues in print are housed on the third level, and those in microform are in the Microforms Room at the north end of the Reference Room. For further information, contact the Periodicals Department (809-2849).

Reference

The reference collection is in the Reference Room to the east of the lobby in Waterfield Library. It includes indexes and abstracts, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, atlases, statistical sources, and bibliographies. Ask at the reference desk for assistance in using these sources (809-2053) or toll-free 1-866-774-6612 .

Reserve

For a list of all material on reserve for a particular course, plus links to electronic reserve PDF files (e-reserve), please see the Course Reserve section on RACERtrac.

Information for Students

Information for Faculty

Reserve Request Form (faculty)

Fair Use Guideline of U.S. Copyright Law

Material in MSU Libraries may be removed from general circulation and placed on reserve at the request of university faculty in order to support classroom teaching and promote access to heavily used material. Library staff may also place on reserve popular items of interest to the entire campus community. The Reserve collection is located at the Circulation Desk in Waterfield Library. The collection is available to the public all hours the library is open. In addition, electronic reserve items are accessible online 24 hours a day.

Reserve items may include cataloged books, personal copies of books, photocopies of articles, book chapters, manuscripts, course outlines, syllabi, and notes, audio cassettes, videocassettes, CD-ROMs, and electronic files available online.The Pogue Library was completed in 1931 and served as the central library until 1978. G. Tandy Smith from Paducah, Kentucky was the architect that designed the building in the Renaissance Revivial style. At the time, it was considered one of the most handsome buildings in the state and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The building consists of a ground floor, along with three other floors and contains a beautiful, ornate reading room. Another outstanding feature is the bronze doors on both east and west entrances. They were the focus of controversy in 1930, when the cost was rumored to be over $40,000. The actual cost was $14,000 and the "gold doors" of Pogue Library are still today in use. Pogue Library is named in honor of Dr. Forrest C. Pogue, a 1931 Murray State University alumnus. Dr. Pogue was a nationally known historian and biographer of General George C. Marshall. In 1989, he donated his books, personal papers and memorabilia to the library.

Today the Pogue Library houses Special Collections, the University Archives and the James O. Overby Law Library.

Special Collections

Special Collections, located in Pogue Library, contains materials relating to the history and culture of Western Kentucky and neighboring states and the states from which most of the early settlers of this area came: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Among the library's collections are those relating to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Civil War, and local history. Also of note are the Forrest C. Pogue 20th Century War and Diplomacy Collection, which includes the books and papers of Dr. Pogue as well as the Pierce Collection on World War II; the Jesse Stuart Collection which contains photographs, first editions, manuscripts, and memorabilia relating to the life and career of Jesse Stuart (1907-1984), Kentucky Poet Laureate; and the manuscript collection, which contains the papers of every congressman to serve the First District of Kentucky since 1902, with one exception. For further information contact Special Collections (809-6152).

University Archives

The University Archives is the repository of material relating to the establishment, development, and ongoing operation of Murray State University. Among the types of materials it collects are papers of the presidents, catalogs, yearbooks, photographs, publications and reports, brochures, faculty publications, biographical material, and memorabilia. Individuals having materials relating to the history of the university are asked to call the archivist at 809-6153. The archives is located in Pogue Library and is open during regular hours, weekdays only.

James O. Overby Law Library

The Overby Law Library, located on the lower level of Pogue Library , was named in honor of James O. Overby in 1997. Mr. Overby was a 1939 Murray State University alumnus and served as University General Counsel for almost 30 years. The collection consists of basic legal material governing the United States and individual states. Included are codes, statutes, digests, reports, citations, regulations, forms and standard treatises covering major areas of law. The library also has access to LexisNexis search capabilities. For further information contact James O. Overby Law Library (809-6758).

Murray State University Libraries