ANNUAL REPORT
MCFARLIN LIBRARY | 2023
McFarlin Library
ABOUT US.
The McFarlin Library supports the academic, research and personal growth of our diverse university community by providing access to comprehensive collections, cutting-edge technologies, and innovative services. We are dedicated to fostering an environment that encourages inquiry, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Through expert staff, inclusive spaces, and strategic partnerships, we aim to inspire excellence in teaching, learning, and research, while preserving and promoting the rich intellectual and cultural heritage of our institution. We provide one –onone assistance and group instructional support for students and faculty and access to a wide breadth of materials to support UTulsa’s rigorous academic programs.
McFarlin Library
MCFARLIN BY THE NUMBERS
GENERAL COLLECTION
Print Titles
1,055,904
Databases 549
Ask a Librarian Questions Answered 175,117 16,312 4,623
Circulation Transactions
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Number of Volumes
Manuscript Pages
Library Visits 2,290 153,000 Visits 5,000,000+ 1,105
Pages scanned to support remote patron access
Interlibrary Loan
• Requests provided to other libraries: 6,779
• Requests received from other libraries: 2,276
Information
Literacy Sessions
• In-Class: Freshman to Graduate Level
• Fall 2023: 2,940 Minutes (49 hours)
• Spring 2024: 2,820 Minutes (47 hours)
• Total: 5,760 Minutes (96 hours)*
*This is a 260.47% increase since 2018-19
Personalized Research Assistance
• Fall 2023: 1,998 Minutes (33.3 hours)
• Spring 2024: 1,398 (23.3 hours)
• Total: 3,396 (56.6 hours)
Research Guides
• Total views across All Research Guides: 103,305
Top 5 Guides
• Oklahoma Census: 1910 & 1920: 1,927
• Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP): 1,816
• Mental Health Resources: 1,205
• Graduate Student Library Resources & Services: 1,158
• Citation Study Guides: 840
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
The Department of Special Collections and University Archives at McFarlin Library hosts world-class collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, artwork, and other objects, including one of the five largest collections in the world on the celebrated Irish writer James Joyce and the life archive of Nobel Laureate Sir V.S. Naipaul.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHTS 2023-2024
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Signed first edition, 1985
The Last Man by Mary Shelley Three-volume first edition, 1826
Micah Clarke by Arthur Conan Doyle Inscribed signed first edition, 1889
Margaret Murray Gooding collection of V.S. Naipaul papers
Correspondence from Naipaul to Murray through the duration of their extramarital relationship, 1970s - 1990s
Down Beat Ballroom photographs
6 snapshots of people in a Black jazz club located in Greenwood, 1941-1942
Recipes. Remedies by Anonymous
Contains household recipes for soups (including “hedgehog soup”), truffle sauce, puddings, pickles, etc. Last section contains instructions for making medicinal treatments, Ca.1779
The Preacher by Owen Jones
Hand-bound in wooden boards that were heat-pressed to resemble extravagant Gothic carvings. Exquisitely filled with chromolithographs, 1849
TPS LIBRARIANS CONFERENCE AT UTULSA
In August 2023, McFarlin Library hosted an innovative conference for over 60 Tulsa Public School Librarians. We delved into pedagogical discussions, equipping these professionals with strategic insights to enhance both digital and print resources at their schools and throughout the district. Through this conference we also empowered librarians to foster student engagement and elevate research skills by highlighting a wide array of resources for grades K-12, creating a ripple effect that will impact their student’s academic journey for years to come.
ADRIAN ALEXANDER LIBRARIAN IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
The Adrian Alexander Librarian in Residence program was founded in 2023 thanks to a generous gift from Peggy Helmerich in Dean Alexander’s name, upon his retirement. The program supports two recent Master of Library Science graduates process high priority collections within McFarlin library. This year, two librarians are working on the V.S. Naipaul collections and the Federal Depository Collection. Their work supports greater accessibility and use of these two important collections.
MCFARLIN FELLOWS
The rare book and manuscript collections at The University of Tulsa have always enjoyed strong support from the Tulsa Community. Much of this support has been from people who are interested in literature and history. In the 1940s, the Tulsa Bibliophiles, a group of book collectors, developed an extensive collection of Walt Whitman materials that later, along with many of the members’ personal libraries, was given to McFarlin Library, establishing the University’s rare book holdings for American and English literature.
Over the years there have been many fascinating and notable speakers and events, including Nobel Laureate Sir V. S. Naipaul; Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Mary Robinson (then President of Ireland); NPR commentator, writer and librarian Nancy Pearl; the unveiling of the Sir Rupert Hart Davis Library; Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney; and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz).
McFarlin Fellows speakers for 2023/2024 have received numerous awards and accolades including the Booker Prize, the Dublin International Literary Award, the International Book Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, The Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement in Western literature, Will Rogers Medallion Award for “Best Short Fiction of the Year”, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow, a Fulbright Scholarship, and designation as an NEH Public Scholar.
MCFARLIN BEHIND THE SCENES
WMS DISCOVERY
This year the library worked behind the scenes to migrate to a new Library Services Platform (LSP). The new ILS offers advanced features such as improved cataloging, streamlined circulation processes, integrated searching across multiple electronic resources, and enhanced user interfaces, which have been positively received by both staff and patrons.
AEON IMPLEMENTATION FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
The bulk of the Aeon implementation took place during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Aeon is an automated request and workflow management software specifically designed for special collections libraries and archives that improves efficiency, item tracking, and statistics. Upon full implementation in late 2024, this software will allow Special Collections patrons to request items from TU’s archival collections, reserve appointment times in our Reading Room, and request scans of materials, all through a professional website that interfaces with our existing finding aids.
PATRON FEEDBACK
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Excellent, this is most helpful… PS I appreciated the work you did in advance to make my last visit seamless with respect to doing the research I had planned for that day. Thank you for your help with my research.
I wanted to relay what a privilege you and the Director today to view a Special Collection. It was better than Disney Land! This libraries research available is beyond awesome.
INSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH SUPPORT
The Library instruction I was presented offers an immense amount of confidence to my success within the classroom. One-on-one sessions are so helpful and I learn so much every session. The library is doing a phenomenal job of providing various sources to be available for use.
MCFARLIN LIBRARY
800 South Tucker Dr. Tulsa, OK 74104
The University of Tulsa does not discriminate on the basis of personal status or group characteristics including, but not limited to individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, ancestry, or marital status in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other university-sponsored programs. Questions regarding implementation of this policy may be addressed to the Office of Human Resources, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-9700, 918-631-2616. Requests for accommodation of disabilities may be addressed to TU’s 504 Coordinator at 918631-2315. To ensure availability of an interpreter, five to seven days notice is needed; 48 hours is recommended for all other accommodations. #TU24497
