Inspired by the University’s Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment strategic plan, Morris Library’s goals are: to offer access to innovative technology and to better serve the intellectual and artistic activities of the campus and the region. The Library will accomplish these goals through significant facility improvements, sponsored lectures and presentations, upgraded technological resources, and increased regional access and collaboration.

As part of the Opportunity Through Excellence Campaign for Southern, an unprecedented $100 million effort through the SIU Foundation, Morris Library seeks to raise $l million to strengthen facilities, technology, and collections so the University community and the citizens of southern Illinois can depend upon it for learning, research, teaching, and service.

Facilities and Equipment
$250,000

Morris Library is, with state and University support, being renovated and expanded. It is the largest capital project in Southern’s history. This exciting commitment to the Library by the citizens of Illinois is altruistic and important. Unfortunately, it will not adequately fund the modernization of information technologies that have become fundamental to today’s student, teacher, and researcher.

The future of Morris Library at Southern is intertwined with its physical facilities. The goal of Morris Library is to serve as an academic commons of ideas and learning—an inviting space for the campus community that facilitates and encourages learning in a context of research and scholarship. Naming opportunities for new, revitalized, and expanded specialty areas are available to recognize significant commitments to the future of one of the nation’s finest libraries.

Academic Excellence Programs
$750,000

The bedrock of Morris Library is the superb staff of professional librarians, each holding a graduate degree in library science and a degree in a subject area related to the collection they manage. Ever vigilant in a quickly changing world, they assist faculty and students in navigating the infinite resources of the Internet, as well as traditional sources of information. No question is too large or too small for today’s librarians. They are leading a noble effort to preserve and disseminate knowledge for current students and faculty and for generations to come. The librarians are an integral part of the research and teaching that is conducted at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Morris Library’s expansion and renovation usher in a new phase for Library Affairs, one that brings new opportunities to serve the campus community. Diverse programming will reinforce the Library’s position as the center for intellectual and creative activity at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The proliferation of information in a wide variety of formats necessitates a diverse, innovative, and forward-thinking array of collections and services to meet the wide-ranging needs of our patrons. The Library will build and house strong collections to support the curriculum and research needs of our academic community. In addition, Morris Library plans to invest in improving access to current journals, online subscriptions, monographs, and special collections.

Collection development is a key factor measured by the Association of Research Libraries’ ranking system. Morris Library’s ranking has risen steadily over recent years. Library rankings, published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, are widely viewed as a measure of a library’s strength and stature. Through generous private endowment funds, we will be able to enhance current collections and develop new ones in subjects that enhance the reputation of the University as a vibrant resource for the region, state, and nation.

Speakers, presentations, performances, displays, events, and collections endowments will be funded through a new Academic Excellence Programs Endowment.