Learn what Dunbar Library can do for you. We’ll be offering guided tours the first week of classes. Join us for either session. No need to RSVP, just meet at the Circulation Desk on the first floor.

Welcome Week Library Tours:

Tuesday, August 29th 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. 
Thursday, August 31st 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. 

For questions or to arrange an additional tour time, contact marketing@libraries.wright.edu.

Are you ready for all the tips, tricks, and hacks you can handle about your friendly neighborhood academic library?  We’ve built this floor-by-floor guide of services and spaces available at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library (our physical space), brought to you by the Wright State University Libraries (our department, staff).

General Info:

• Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and subscribe to this blog for updates on new library services and events (like Fuzz Therapy – de-stress with service dogs in training during finals week!)
• Hours vary. Check our calendar for details, especially during breaks.
• Food is allowed in the library, but please use lids whenever possible, and report any spills to our staff immediately.
• Group Study on the first and second floors means you can meet with friends and talk at a normal tone, but please be respectful of those around you. You can move chairs and whiteboards, but please keep them in the same general area and put them back when you’re finished.
• Quiet Study on the third and fourth floors is designated for solo work. We cannot guarantee absolute silence, so please be respectful of your neighbors. Keep headphone volume low, avoid bringing in smelly foods, etc. Report noise complaints to the Circulation Desk at 937-775-2525.
• Please do not post flyers (or leave other printed materials) anywhere in the library except the bulletin board next to Starbucks. Flyers advertising WSU-related events with ending dates will be given priority when the board is cleared.
• Access floors 1-4 of Dunbar Library using the three elevators across from the Circulation Desk. A single elevator with access to the basement is located just inside the door that faces the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures – or get your steps in and use the stairs to the basement (located under/behind/around the corner from the center stairwell that leads to the 2nd floor).
• Public restrooms are available on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors (not 1st, sorry) around the corner from the elevators, next to the cell phone zones. The 2nd and 3rd floors also have larger restrooms located toward the back corner of each floor.

First Floor (Group Study):

@ the Circulation (Circ) Desk:

• Pick up hold items, including OhioLINK & SearchOhio, and check out Course Reserves
• Ask about our Free Key Finder service
• Add $ to you Wright1 Card (there’s also a reload machine on 2nd floor, but if you need it without delay ask our staff to reload at the Circ Desk)
• Borrow DVDs, cameras, tripods, mobile device chargers, board games and more!
• Buy blank CDs and flash drives, Wright Family collections postcards
• Check out anatomy models, building sets and more
• Not a student, staff or faculty member? Get your guest computer passwords and guest printing card at the Circ Desk (photo ID required)

Next to Starbucks:

• Browse our Popular Reading collection shelves for new releases and fun break reads
• Meet with friends in the Group Study Room
• Play a board game from our Brain Games collection
• Use the copy machine

Second Floor (Group Study): 

Dunbar Library is also home to a near-exact replica of the 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer that hangs above our second floor atrium and is one of our most photographed locations in the library. Completed in 2001 by a team of dedicated volunteers lead by Howard R. DuFour, learn about the flyer project here.

@ the Info Desk

• Get research and reference help, make an appointment with your subject librarian
• Reserve the Small Group Study Room (meet with your small study group) or the Presentation Practice Room (practice your presentations in a space similar to your classroom).
• Can’t make it in person? Chat with us (and more) using our Ask a Librarian service: www.libraries.wright.edu/ask.

Special note on stereotypes:  You may not recognize our knowledgeable and approachable librarians because we all don’t wear glasses or have our hair in a bun 🙂 

We are problem-solvers and we’re here for you.  If you ask us a question, you are not bothering us, and we would be happy to help you.  Ask Us.

Also on the 2nd floor:

• Public computers
• Mobile device charging station
• The Student Technology Assistance Center (STAC) – ask us about 3D printing, green screen wall, cameras and tripods, multimedia projects, and bookable spaces:
  • eLearning Studio – complete your online course work or web conferences while on campus!
  • The Pod – green wall, recording equipment and more!
  • Can’t make it into the STAC but have a tech question? Ask a STAC Geek
• Whiteboards and dry erase walls
• Scanners, copiers, printers – the Red & Blue printers print in color. Signs above computer workstations note the default printer for each location. Swipe your Wright1 card at the printing pay station.
• Music scores
• Microfilm and readers
• Print reference materials
• Patent and Trademark Resource center – have an invention to patent or other intellectual property you’d like to protect? Contact Ran Raider to learn more.

Third Floor (Quiet Study): 

• The stacks, bookshelves – classified using the Library of Congress system. Having trouble finding a book? Ask us and/or read this guide.
• New this fall: Quiet Study Room – Room 341, open to all during library operating hours!
• One of our favorite quiet places to study is the back of the third floor – where the stacks help block the noise that filters up from lower floors.

Fourth Floor (Quiet Study):

• Special Collections and Archives (SC&A) – Home to our world-renowned Wright Brothers collection, the Dayton Daily News Archive, local and state records, University Archives and more. Stop by the SC&A Reading Room and ask what primary sources can do for your papers and projects. Or, ask an Archivist.
• Digital Initiatives and Repository Services – ask us about CORE Scholar, the institutional repository for Wright State University. Preserving your thesis, posters, and more with permanent URLs. Plus, check out past conference precedings and open access journals in CORE Scholar.
• Chinese collection
• Children’s collection – aimed at educators but with something for kids of every age (including us!)

On the Web

• Ask a Librarian – call, chat, email, schedule an appointment – www.libraries.wright.edu/ask
• Research Guides – learn how to find books, articles, journals for subjects, courses, and much more at guides.libraries.wright.edu

All of this information and more can be found on our website: www.libraries.wright.edu.

Welcome to Wright State! When in doubt, ask a librarian.