Library Departments

The Office of the University Librarian supports the activities of the University Librarian in the attainment of the Library's overarching mission and vision.

The Finance and Operations Unit provides financial and operational services and oversees the proper maintenance of the Lauinger Library building.

The Personnel, Planning and Assessment Unit coordinates human resources and employee relations and works in close collaboration with the Library's Executive Council on planning and assessment activities.

The Development Office, part of the Office of Alumni and University Relations, is the fund-raising arm of the Library and supports alumni and Library friends through various outreach activities including the Library Associates.

The Georgetown University Library has two advisory committees that assist in setting the direction for library activities:

The Faculty Library Advisory Committee (FLAC) is our campus advisory board. The FLAC meets regularly throughout the school year to discuss pertinent library issues and their effect on the faculty and students of Georgetown University.

The Georgetown University Library Board is our external advisory board.

The Georgetown University Library Information Technology Department is responsible for planning, implementing and maintaining the automated information technologies within the library, thus playing a crucial support role for the other library departments.

The Access Services Department facilitates user access to local and remotely held resources through the circulation of materials, borrowing policies, renewing books, requesting books, Course Reserves, Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) and the Consortium Loan Service (CLS), Interlibrary Loan, shelving and shelf maintenance, document delivery, group discussion rooms, carrel and locker distribution, library-wide lost and found and patron registration.

The Collection Development Department develops and maintains collections of resources to support the teaching and research efforts of the University community. The Department works with faculty through its Library Liaison Program to build current collections; assesses, measures and evaluates collections strengths, use and appropriateness to changing needs; keeps a current written Collection Development Policy; and, allocates the Library's collections budget. The Department represents Georgetown in regional and national consortia collections efforts.

Research & Instruction librarians provide research assistance and teach the use of library resources for the social sciences, humanities and business. The Reference collection includes many specialized research tools such as periodical indexes, encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, and atlases.

The Woodstock Theological Center Library is one of the oldest and most notable Catholic theological libraries in the United States. Founded in 1869 at Woodstock College (outside Baltimore, Maryland), it sojourned from 1969 to 1974 in New York City. With the 1974 closing of Woodstock College's Columbia University incarnation, the library moved to Georgetown University, Washington, DC, to become the research tool for the Woodstock Theological Center. Owned by the Maryland and New York provinces of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the library is currently housed as a separate collection in Georgetown's Joseph Mark Lauinger Library for use by Woodstock Theological Center fellows, Georgetown university students and faculty and by scholars from around the world. In 2001 WTCL became a member of the Washington Theological Consortium and Washington Research Library Consortium.

Contact Information:
Telephone: (202) 687-7513
Fax: (202) 687-7473

Woodstock Theological Center Library
Georgetown University
Box 571170
Washington, DC 20057-1170

The Blommer Science Library is located on the third floor of the Reiss Science Building and provides library services to all Main Campus students, faculty, and staff. The Library houses part of the science collections for biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics, and provides information and research services for undergraduate and graduate programs in those fields. For medicine and the health sciences, please visit Dahlgren Library. Some 66,000 books and bound periodicals and more than 700 current journal subscriptions are housed in the Blommer Science Library. Older science materials are housed in Lauinger Library, Riggs Library, and an off-campus shelving facility. The Library opened on September 20, 1962 and bears the name of Henry J. Blommer (C '26).

The Gelardin New Media Center opened in September of 2001 in newly renovated and expanded space on the first floor of Lauinger Library. The renovation, a gift from Jacques P. Gelardin (B'69), greatly increases access to equipment, software and services for computing, for multimedia development, and for audio-visual and digital materials.

The Center allows researchers to convert into digital format any material collected by the Library and then use the converted material to present their research findings in many different ways.

The Gelardin Center, through its partnership with the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) will also play an important role in assisting faculty to explore new technologies and techniques to improve student learning.

The Technical Services Department is located on the third floor of Lauinger Library. It is responsible for the ordering, receiving, cataloging, binding and general processing of library materials in all formats, including electronic, acquired by Lauinger Library, the Blommer Science Library, and the Woodstock Theological Library, as well as the off-site libraries in Fiesole, Italy and Alanya, Turkey.

Receiving/Copy Cataloging Unit

The Copy Cataloging Unit processes newly acquired materials in a variety of formats, languages and subject areas for Lauinger Library, Blommer Science Library, Kennedy Institute of Bioethics Library, CERES, LLT as well as the off-site libraries in Fiesole, Italy and Alanya, Turkey. It is responsible for the on-going maintenance of the library catalog, GEORGE to ensure its accuracy and reliability as a research tool. It also provides online support to Metadata Services Unit.

Physical Processing Unit

The Physical Processing Unit is responsible for the unpacking and routing of all new material delivered to the department by mail, including shipments from vendors such as Blackwell, Touzot, Yankee Books, and others. It also sorts and delivers flat mail to various locations in Technical Services and Collection Development/Reference. The Unit provides stamping, tattle-taping, and labeling of material that is delivered to circulation prior to being shelved. Material that is sent by the Library for commercial binding is also handled by the Unit, including rebinds, pamphlets, and periodicals.

Order/Financial Unit

The Order/Financial Unit is responsible for the ordering of monographic material (such as book, audio-visual CD/DVD, and microform) and out of print titles in all formats to support the resources for the Lauinger, Blommer, and Woodstock Libraries. It is also responsible for the payment and reconciliation of all invoices.

Metadata Services Unit

The Metadata Services Unit creates descriptive metadata for bibliographic records in the library catalog, GEORGE, and for digital objects in the Library’s content management systems. Materials are cataloged in all formats and a wide variety of languages for Lauinger and Blommer Science Libraries. The Unit monitors vendor authority reports and establishes authoritative forms for names and subjects to maintain consistency for these headings in GEORGE. Catalogers update GEORGE database to identify and correct problems and errors as necessary; they plan and carry out special cataloging projects.

Electronic Resources & Serials Unit

The Electronic Resources & Serials Unit is responsible for ordering, receiving, invoicing and claiming of electronic resources and serials. It manages and maintains the Library’s electronic resources and serials subscription. It troubleshoots database access and subscription-related issues. The Unit is also in charge of cataloging of electronic resources and serials as well as maintenance of ERM system.