I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to all students, faculty, staff, and the entire AU community!

My vision for the AU Library is to be all things to all people. It can be quiet and meditative, or fun and collaborative, but is always inclusive and supportive. Just find your perfect space and you are at home. 

I believe that access to information leads to civilization, equity, the expansion of knowledge, and the creation of opportunities. The Library’s role in sharing information as widely as possible is central to American University’s culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion – and at the heart of what we do. It’s critical for the Library as an organization to continue growing and learning so we are prepared and well equipped to support the needs of our diverse community.

The dedicated faculty and staff of the Library are eager to show all we have to offer from vast sources of knowledge. We pair individual attention with expert information literacy instruction for individuals and in classes as part of the curriculum. Online you’ll discover many tools to help identify reliable and trusted sources in our wide-ranging collections.  In today’s world amid oceans of information, the methods and skills we teach directly result in academic success and research excellence.

We are part of the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), a collaboration of area universities that expands our collection and provides access to exceptionally comprehensive resources beyond our walls.  

AU Library’s collections are complex and constantly evolving and growing. We want our community to readily discover and use information, including our unique holdings housed in the Library’s Archives and Special Collections. We continue to build on our strengths in a number of subject areas, such as local Washington, D.C. neighborhood history, our extensive and growing journalism and photojournalism collections, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society archive, and the Peace Corps Community Archive, to name a few.  Access to information isn’t limited to traditional print and electronic resources anymore, which is why we provide technology loans, poster and 3-D printing, and a Makerspace. We look forward to seeing these innovations put to use on campus and actively engaging with our users.

We hope you will all visit the Library often and freely share your thoughts about our services, facilities, and resources. We are ever seeking to grow and improve as a learning organization and need your help to make that happen.

With best wishes for a successful and personally fulfilling academic experience.

Sincerely,

Jeehyun Davis