| Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library | |
|---|---|
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 Campus entrance to the library | |
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| 37°20′08″N121°53′06″W / 37.33545°N 121.88496°W /37.33545; -121.88496 | |
| Location | 150 East San Fernando Street San Jose, California 95112 |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 2003 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 1.6 million volumes |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | City of San Jose San Jose State University |
| Other information | |
| Website | https://www.sjlibrary.org/ |
TheDr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library (also known locally as theMLK Library or theKing Library) is an 8-story[1]public library and university library, located indowntown San Jose,California, which had its grand opening on August 16, 2003.[2] As of 2018[update], it is the largest library building in the western United States built in a single construction project, with over 475,000 square feet (44,000 m2) of space on eight floors and approximately 1.6 million volumes. The King Library is a collaboration between the City of San José andSan José State University: it is the main library for both San José State University and theSan José Public Library system. In 2004 it was honored as Library of the Year byLibrary Journal andThomson Gale, for its collaborative combination of the two functions as well as for the building.[3] On its tenth anniversary in 2013 it was still the largest joint university-municipal library in the United States.[2]
The library building can accommodate over 2000 visitors.
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The library sits on the site of the former Wahlquist Library, and before that, theMain Carnegie Library.[4] The lower level (below floor 1) provides public computers, magazines and government documents. The reference collections are on floor 2. The volumes of the City Library system are shelved on floor 3. There, the non-fiction are indexed via theDewey Decimal Classification and the fiction are sorted alphabetically by author's last name. The volumes of the University Library (known also as the Research Collection) are shelved on floors 6 to 8 and are indexed via theLibrary of Congress Classification System. Some duplicate volumes exist in both systems.
The center of the building is known as the Koret Atrium. On floor 1, in the atrium, a large LED display shows in real time the number of item loans (books and other media such as CDs and DVDs) that the entire City Library System has made since 2000. As of February 2025[update], that display showed a figure of over 240 million.
The lower level, second and third floors are where the majority of the public computers are located.
The fourth floor is dedicated to students with their laptops, and the lower floors provide large round tables for people to meet at. All floors except floor 1 provide individual alcoves for students or members of the public who are engaged in research for their studies. Floors 6 and 8 are "quiet study floors" and floor 7 is a "silent study floor".
Throughout the library are artworks byMel Chin; the title of the series isRecolecciones (Spanish for "recollections").[3][5][6]
On May 5, 2003, San Jose State's board of regents voted to name the plaza in front of the library the Robert L. Caret Plaza, after former university presidentRobert Caret.[7]
Special collections within the library include, all on the 5th floor, theIra F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, theMartha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, a California History Room, and the SJSU Special Collections & Archives. There is also the Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Collection on the 3rd floor.
The library provides public computers and an online reservation system to reserve time on them. Students can also reserve study rooms through a similar online system. The computers are configured withTraditional Chinese input methods and input methods for some European languages. Some public computers are configured to access the library card catalog and other services only.[8]
In the Koret Atrium on floor 1, there is a kiosk of eight public computers with Internet access for which a library card is not required. These are configured so that use is limited to 15 minutes at a time.
The lower level has about 20 public computers, and floors 2 and 3 about 50 public computers each. Login to these computers requires a San Jose city library card number and PIN. Access time is nominally limited to 2 hours per day per library card, but at the end of the session, if less than 90% of the public computers are busy, the user is granted another hour of session time; such extensions can continue as long as the library remains open. Login sessions of public computer users are automatically terminated when the library closes to the public.
All floors are equipped withWi-Fi service. The public, unencryptedSSID is "King_Library_WIFI".
Cash-only print release stations and printers are available on floor 1 and other floors. Some print stations can be operated with print cards.[9] Cash-only copiers are available on most floors.
The library is a major nexus point for student life at SJSU. Students often arrive with their laptops and engage in study groups both at tables and in study rooms.
During designated portions of the school year, after the library is closed for the day to the public, it remains open for "extended study hours" (24 hours) to SJSU students, staff and faculty.[10]
Located in:San Jose, California | |||||||
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Established: 1857 –Endowment: 264 million –Students: 37,661 –California State University | |||||||
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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