Hidden Gems: Auraria Library

At the center of the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, an information hub serves some 50,000 students. TheAuraria Library is said to be the only academic library in the country serving three schools.

"We look at ourselves as the heart of the campus," said Catherine Ostrander, head of community relations for the library. "We're here to serve everyone – students, faculty and staff."

The library serves the University of Colorado Denver community, of course. What's lesser known is that many of the library's collections and resources may be tapped into by faculty from throughout the CU system. A faculty ID serves as a library card.

Designed by global architect Helmut Jahn, the industrial-looking building may have been ahead of its time when it opened in 1976. The exterior has the cool, stark look of a factory or aircraft hangar. Inside, the exposed ductwork is now fashionable, and plenty of natural light from windows that overlook a pair of courtyards make for an inviting study environment.

A new addition inside the library: a faculty room, a recently remodeled space where faculty can get away from the campus buzz and make a phone call or plug in a laptop in relative quiet. There's even a conversation area with high-back booths.

Faculty looking for a space to hold a seminar or book club get-together, for example, may reserve a block of time in one of the library's classrooms.

UC Denver employees may check out up to 75 books at a time from the library; the checkout period is 180 days, with three renewals. They also have access to nearly 300 online research databases, accessible not only at the library but from home, office or campus Internet connections.

The library also is connected toProspector, a network of 23 libraries throughout Colorado and Wyoming. Items requested via the system may be delivered to the Auraria Library for convenient pick-up.

"It's an amazing way for us to share resources at no charge to the library user," Ostrander said. She and her 60-plus colleagues pride themselves on customer service – not only in person at the library, but via the library's recently redesigned website and instant messaging.

Hidden Gems is an occasional feature in the Faculty and Staff Newsletter that highlights noteworthy places and people on the CU campuses. To suggest a subject — anything or anyone that you think makes your campus special — please send it to Jay.Dedrick@cu.edu.