The mission of the John and Louise Hulst Library is to bring together people, resources, spaces, and technology to enhance student learning and effective teaching.
The library is a centralized resource facility that houses a collection of 309,000 volumes, including 128,500 book volumes, 17,500 print journal volumes, and 163,000 microtext units. The library subscribes to nearly 500 journals, magazines, and newspapers and has electronic access to another 15,000 titles. In addition to providing print and electronic resources, the library serves the campus' media needs by acquiring and circulating audio and video tapes, DVDs, projectors, recorders, digital camcorders and cameras, GPS units, VCRs, DVD players, CD players and other media equipment. The library has a significant collection of curriculum and children's literature materials housed in the Learning Resource Center. Other specialized collections include the Dordt College Archives and the Dutch Memorial Collection.
Open nearly 90 hours per week during the academic year, the facility provides study space for over 300 people. The original building was constructed in 1966, but a significant renovation occurred in 2002 when a new Campus Center building was built immediately adjacent to the Library. The renovation provided the library with a new entrance, a remodeled upper level, an expanded workroom, and an added multipurpose room. The presence of the Campus Center allows students to make use of the extensive study spaces scattered throughout the new building, and incorporates the library, academic offices and classrooms, lounges, food service outlets, and recreational facilities under one roof.
The library is also a central campus location of computing resources for students. With two multimedia computer labs on the lower level and additional multimedia PCs scattered throughout the upper level, students can search the library's web-based catalog to locate books and articles, surf the Internet, send e-mail, instant message, compose papers, create presentations, watch DVDs, and listen to music or other audio files. On the upper-level of the library there is also a PC-based multimedia production station capable of digitizing audio and video content. The library has a wireless area network in place to accommodate students using their own laptops.
