University Libraries

Mission Statement

The Baylor Libraries lead as an innovative research library that undergirds scholarship, fosters teaching, and learning, and builds communities.

The Libraries accomplish this mission by:

• Partnering with researchers to create innovative solutions that enhance research and teaching.
• Combining expertise and resources within dynamic spaces to produce collaborations that create new knowledge.
• Providing digital, print, archival, human, and other resources that empower research and teaching.
• Developing partnerships that establish learning communities.

Moody Memorial Library and Jesse H. Jones Library

Moody and Jones Libraries are the academic life center for the university. Located at the heart of the Waco campus, these adjoining libraries provide flexible individual and group learning environments, a multi-disciplinary research collection comprised of over 1 million volumes, more than 190,000 media items, audio and video production facilities, a makerspace, in-person technical support, the Graduate Research Center, the University Writing Center, the Academy for Teaching and Learning, and Starbucks Coffee. The Libraries also provide access to over 1.1 million e-books, more than 150,000 online journals and over 1,000 databases. Subject-specific online guides provide starting points for the research journey, and our expert librarians are also available to provide assistance in-person or virtually. Moody and Jones Libraries are open 24-hours a day during the fall and spring terms from Sunday at 1:00 p.m. until Friday at 10:00 p.m. Hours vary during the summer terms, on holidays, and weekends throughout the year.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/library.

Armstrong Browning Library and Museum

A world-renowned nineteenth-century research library dedicated to the lives and works of British poets, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This library houses the world's largest collection of Browning material and a growing body of books, manuscripts, periodicals, tracts, pamphlets, art, and other cultural artifacts supports research on nineteenth-century literature and culture more broadly. The Brownings: A Research Guide, a database developed by the library, facilitates the study of the Brownings and their circle online. Scholars from around the globe join Baylor student and faculty researchers in the Below Scholars' Room where librarians retrieve and assist with materials for study. For a quiet learning environment reminiscent of a college library at Oxford or Cambridge, students and faculty are encouraged to use the John Leddy-Jones Research Hall on the second floor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The inspirational McLean Foyer of Meditation is available during the same hours; and the Garden of Contentment can be enjoyed at any time. The library hosts lectures, symposia, and concerts that reinforce its mission throughout the year. Named by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as one of the most beautiful college libraries in America, the facility serves as a cultural venue for the Baylor campus and draws more than 30,000 visitors a year.

For additional information, visit www.browninglibrary.org.

The Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society

The Keston Institute was officially formed in the United Kingdom in 1969 under the direction of Michael Bourdeaux to document the fight for religious freedom by believers living under communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The archive and library provided the core of Keston’s operations and contained unique items on religions and Christian denominations, including the stories of individuals and their witness.

In 2007, the Keston Institute passed the care of its archive and library to the newly-formed Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society at Baylor, and in 2012 the Center transitioned to the Libraries. The Keston Center receives, maintains, preserves, expands, and makes available to scholars the world’s most comprehensive artificially assembled collection of materials on religious persecution under communist and other totalitarian regimes. The Institute and the Center collaboratively promote research, teaching, and understanding of religion and politics in communist, post-communist, and other totalitarian societies and the relationship between religion and Marxism.

Housed on the third floor of the Carroll Library, Keston materials are available for use in the Michael Bourdeaux Reading Room.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/kestoncenter.

Library Academic and Technology Services

Library & Academic Technology Services partners with those in the Baylor community who are focused on teaching, learning, and research to create and support learning environments that engage students and enable innovative and transformative academic experiences. While not a traditional library, this group facilitates learning across the university by providing and supporting online teaching and learning resources, computer lab environments, the Experiential Learning Commons (which includes audio and video production facilities and a makerspace), HelpDesk+, and classroom technologies.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/library/lats and helpdeskplus.web.baylor.edu.

The Texas Collection and University Archives

The Texas Collection and University Archives, housed in Carroll Library, is a research center established in 1923 with a donation of more than 1,000 Texas books and documents by Waco physician Dr. Kenneth Hazen Aynesworth. The Texas Collection has grown to over 175,000 volumes, more than 1.4 million photographs, 3,100 current serials and periodicals, over 15,000 maps, and in excess of 10,000 linear feet of archival materials, which makes it one of the foremost collections of Texan materials. The Texas Collection is a depository for Texas state documents, county microfilm records, oral memoirs and most graduate theses and dissertations completed at Baylor. The library also serves as the official archive of Baylor University.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/library/texas.

W. R. Poage Legislative Library

Established in 1979, the W. R. Poage Legislative Library is home to the Baylor Collections of Political Materials, the Bob Bullock Archive, the Judge Jack E. Hightower Book Vault, an outstanding Texas politics exhibit, and a quiet reading room. The Poage Library's research collections focus on national and Texas politics and include the papers of former members of the United States Congress, the Texas Legislature, judges, and other officials. The W. R. Poage Legislative Library is located adjacent to the Moody and Jones Libraries.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/library/poage.

Baylor University Press

The Baylor University Press, in conjunction with the University Press Committee, is responsible for publishing academic research, thus advancing knowledge to scholars beyond campus boundaries. The office oversees all acquisitions, editing, production, and marketing activities.

For additional information, visit www.baylorpress.com.

Mayborn Museum Complex

The Sue & Frank Mayborn Natural Science and Cultural History Museum Complex at Baylor University includes the Harry & Anna Jeanes Discovery Center, the Gov. Bill & Vara Daniel Historic Village, and the Strecker Museum Collection. The Mayborn Museum Complex brings together in one location the resources of hands-on discovery rooms and interactive natural science and cultural history galleries, including outdoor exhibits. This unusually rich combination provides a wide spectrum of engaging learning opportunities for all types of learners and visitors of all ages. The exhibits and education programs encourage families to learn together as they make choices and design their own museum experience. The multifaceted Museum Complex also serves as a learning laboratory for Baylor University students in the Department of Museum Studies, as well as many other disciplines across campus.

For additional information, visit www.baylor.edu/mayborn.