Alden Library (Athens, Ohio)

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Vernon R. Alden Library serves the Athens campus as the central library facility; the building can seat 3,000 readers. The Ohio University libraries' collections contain over two million printed volumes, 2.3 million units of microfilm material, and 13,500 current periodical subscriptions. Electronic resources of the Libraries include ALICE, the libraries online catalog; OhioLINK, a statewide library and information network; and a wide variety of networked databases in many subject disciplines. These are accessible from within the Alden Library and many are linked to the Library Home Page and other campus networks. Special collections within Alden Library are the Fine Arts Library, the Health Sciences Library, the University Archives and Special Collections, a Map Collection, and the Southeast Asia Collection. Instructional Media & Technology Services supports instructional technology across the Athens campus and houses video and other multimedia collections. Alden Library is open to the public, as well as to students, faculty, and staff, seven days a week during the academic year. Alden Library also houses the Learning Commons (on the second floor) and the Academic Advancement Center, which offers study skills instruction, tutoring programs, and a computer lab.

Alden Library was completed in 1969 where Old Tupper Hall and the Women's Gymnasium once stood. It replaced Chubb Hall as the main library and the books and other library materials using roller-conveyors. The east and west wings were added in 1972, bringing the capacity to 1.2 million volumes at the time. The Learning Commons was established in 2005 on the second floor and the Faculty Commons was established on the third floor two years later.