Parks Library, standing at the very heart of campus, is a learning and resource hub for Iowa State University students and faculty. As one of the only buildings on campus serving all 34,900-plus students − with an average of more than 11,000 users per day − Parks has never been busier. In fact, in-person library use has steadily increased over the last decade, more than doubling since 2006.
 
Parks Library focuses on student success, providing collaborative group work and study spaces, print and online resources, workshops, research assistance, unique and special collections, and 24/7 access during critical times in the semester.

Students come to Parks Library to tutor and be tutored. Some are in search of quiet space for hours of study, staying well into the night. Others plug-in at computer work stations equipped with dual monitors or access library printers, or borrow tech accessory devices, laptops, and iPads. In areas filled with tables, students imagine solutions to new and emerging problems, using standing white boards to illustrate, erase, and redraw the collective thinking.

Faculty, as well, benefit from having spaces for scholarship in the library. As academic research becomes more interdisciplinary, the library is the perfect place to bring burgeoning conversations across fields and expertise.

The library holds more than 2.9 million print titles, a collection that grows every year. Yet Parks Library is more than its physical space. The library provides 24/7 access to information online - e-books and journals for our students and faculty, as well as worldwide access to the research and publications of Iowa State faculty through the Digital Repository.

ISU's request to the State Legislature for $26 million over two years to complete the next phases of Parks Library renovation will transform spaces for study, research, learning, and collaboration by increasing study seats by 30% and collaboration/study spaces from 8 to 30 rooms. In addition it will expand space for Special Collections and University Archives, and create flexible user-defined and high tech spaces throughout Parks Library.

As our world grows in complexity and information proliferates, Parks Library is more important than ever.

Take a minute to share the library's story with Iowa Legislators. Point out that Parks Library is a gateway to all of the world's knowledge, whether in print or electronic format. Appeal to their sense of civic duty by reminding legislators that Parks Library is the place Iowa State students learn to access, evaluate and use information effectively, a skill set that serves them well as students and in the future for their lives, careers, and communities.

Photo: Third floor Parks Library group study area. (Parks Library photo.)