Auraria Library

Auraria Library
The Lawrence Street entrance to Auraria Library
39°44′36″N 105°00′10″W / 39.7434°N 105.0029°W / 39.7434; -105.0029
Location	Denver, Colorado, United States
Type	Academic
Established	1976
Collection
Items collected	All formats
Size	About 790,000 print and electronic books; about 87,000 electronic journal subscriptions
Access and use
Population served	The library serves the 45,000 students on the Auraria Campus.
Other information
Director	Cinthya Ippoliti
Employees	55
Website	http://library.auraria.edu/

Auraria Library is an academic library in downtown Denver, Colorado. It provides academic resources and research experiences to students, staff, and faculty at the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver), the Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), and the Community College of Denver (CCD) on the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) campus, also called the Auraria Campus. The Library is administratively operated by CU Denver and occupies a building owned by the State of Colorado.

About one in five students in college in Colorado attend classes on the Auraria Campus.^[1] The combined tri-institutional census for fall 2012 reports 45,062 students attending the three institutions. The three institutions have combined populations of 15,903 minor students from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, which represents thirty-five percent of the total student population. Seventy-six percent of the graduates remain in the Denver Metropolitan area, contributing to its economic and civic vitality.

The library is known for its association with Beall's List, created by its former faculty member Jeffrey Beall and used by universities and libraries worldwide.

Auraria Library's $32.8 million renovation project came to a close in 2017. "The reconfigured and upgraded library, whose Lawrence Way entrance faces west under a colorful cayenne canopy, is now bright, roomy, innovative, study-friendly, artsy and still flexible enough to meet the changing needs of 21st century college students."

The building was originally designed by internationally recognized architect Helmut Jahn. Its design excellence was recognized by the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1978.^[2] In 2009, it earned the Denver AIA 25-year Award, which recognizes the enduring quality of architectural design that has withstood the “test of time” and still functions in its original capacity.^[3]

Auraria Library's $32.8 million renovation project was funded by $26.8 million in state funds and $6 million in cash contributions including donations. The renovation was broken down into five phases:^[4]

• 2012-2011: Creating Community
• 2012: Transforming Learning Spaces
• 2013: Discovering Possibilities
• 2014: Exploring Library as Place
• 2015-2016: Innovating Dreams

The renovation created more collaborative space, improved technology and added many student-friendly amenities.

The Auraria Library houses approximately 650,000 print books and provides access to 206,000 ebooks, 87,000 ejournals, and 280 million electronic resource records through its Summon Discovery service. The Library maintains 580 journal and newspaper subscriptions and 822 database subscriptions; which are accessible to current students from its website. The library also has a sizable film and videotape collection which contains over 22,000 titles.^[5]

• Jeffrey Beall, founder of Beall's list

• Official website
• Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library