Collection Overview
Here is just a sample of our resources:
- over 1.3 million volumes
- 34,500 full-text electronic journal, magazine and newspaper titles
- 164,000 eBooks
- 14,200 CDs, audio cassettes and LPs
- 13,600 DVDs, tapes and films
- over 20,000 objects in our Digital Archives
- 33,200 Special Collections & Archives items
- selective depository for government documents
The Library also welcomes faculty recommendations for augmenting our collection. For additional information, please visit our Collections page.
Services for Research and Instruction
Research Consultations: In-depth research consultations can be arranged for faculty by contacting a Subject Specialist Librarian.
Instructional Services: In our Library Instruction sessions, students learn how to find, use and evaluate information resources specific to a given field, and how to develop an information search strategy. Faculty can arrange sessions for their students by contacting their Subject Specialist Librarian.
Course Reserves: Faculty can place Library-owned or privately-owned materials on reserve for use by students in specific courses. Course Reserves offers a variety of options for granting access to these materials, from limited loan periods to online e-reserves.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) & Document Delivery: Faculty may obtain books, journals and articles the Library does not own through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Each faculty member is subsidized by the Library for ILL costs up to $400 annually.
Circulation/Check-out Services: CSUN faculty may borrow circulating books for a period of up to one year, and renew items once for an additional one-year period. Read more about Faculty Borrowing Privileges.
For more information about services, please visit our Services for Faculty information page
Unique Collections
Oviatt Library Special Collections contains manuscripts, rare and unusual printed books, and selected sound and video recordings. The collections focus on California, Women in Music, American Literature, Children's Literature, the History of Printing and Publishing, Human Sexuality, the Japanese-American Internment (1942-1945), Radio and Television Scripts, Slavery and Anti-Slavery Movement, Theatre and Plays, 19th and 20th Century Europe, and United States History. There are also examples of rare and unusual books showing the historical development of printing.
The Urban Archives Center documents the history of the greater Los Angeles area by collecting original research materials from voluntary associations and civic and community leaders. Major holdings focus on education, labor and guild history, politics, minority and ethnic studies, gender and women's studies, and the history of the San Fernando Valley.
Music & Media: Music & Media holds the Library's collection of printed music scores, books on music subjects, and sound recordings. Additionally, the Instructional Media Collection contains videos and DVDs geared toward classroom instruction. Video content can be transmitted to any general-use classroom equipped with a monitor or projector via the University Video Network (UVN).
Teacher Curriculum Center (TCC): The Teacher Curriculum Center features a collection of teacher-oriented materials, including selected California state-adopted textbooks, the Sharon Fogarty Young Readers' Collection, CD-ROMs, educational games, curriculum guides, recordings, videotapes, and DVDs.
Library Web Pages: The Library maintains a dynamic and robust web site: http://library.csun.edu/. It provides access to electronic resources, online services, the online catalog, access to Library personnel, and general and new information about the Library and its many services and resources, including information about services and resources tailored and/or reserved for faculty.