The WVU Libraries’ collections include 1.9 million volumes and 34,609 current journal subscriptions. In keeping with WVU’s mission of technological excellence, the WVU Libraries offer students high-speed public use computers, Ethernet connections, wireless access points, electronic access to more than 208 networked databases, and more than 32 thousand electronic journals. Through the Libraries’ membership in the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, WVU students and faculty have access to nearly 30 million books in 75 member libraries. Additionally, membership in the RapidILL system gives WVU Libraries access to over 120 libraries using Rapid, including 48 ARL Libraries. RapidILL provides 24 hour turnaround for journal articles requested through ILL. The West Virginia and Regional History Collection houses manuscripts, folk music, newspapers, photographs, and public records, and is the foremost historical library and archive in the state. The Libraries’ Appalachian Collection is one of the nation’s best resources for Appalachian regional culture (Office of the Dean, WVU Libraries).

The Evansdale Library is the main library for WVU’s Evansdale Campus, serving the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, the College of Creative Arts, the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, and the College of Human Resources and Education. In addition to providing access to WVU Libraries electronic journals and books, Evansdale Library holds approximately 200,000 print volumes, including 137,000 monographs and 90,000 print periodicals, to support the teaching and research needs of faculty and students in the colleges’ disciplines. In addition, Evansdale Library is a designated Patent and Trademark Depository. As such, the library receives current copies of U.S. Patents and provides access to USPTO patent and trademark databases. All the tools necessary to perform a preliminary patent or trademark search are available in the library. Utility, Design, and Plant patents issued from 1790 to the present, patent application files from 2001-present, and trademarks issued from 1870 to the present are searchable online, on DVD, and in print.

Of Evansdale Library’s holdings, there are 2300 print periodical volumes, 16,000 monograph volumes, and 13,000 government document publications in forestry-related disciplines, with an especially significant representation in the call number range associated specifically with Forests and Forestry (SD1-SD699). In that call number range alone there were 3600 monograph volumes, 200 periodical volumes. Selected subscriptions to forestry, wood science, and recreation journals include:

The Liaison Librarian for the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design provides individualized research consultations to the staff, students and faculty of the Davis College by appointment and through the Term Paper Clinic, which provides drop-in workshop services when classes are in session, as well as in-class library instruction to basic and advanced researchers. In addition, the Librarian oversees Evansdale Library Online, a digital library showcasing the Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station Bulletins produced by WVU faculty and Extension agents, and scheduled to launch in Spring 2009. With 16 full-time staff, including 5 librarians, the Evansdale Library is open 100.5 hours a week during the fall and spring, and offers 24-hour service during the final two weeks of each semester. Reference services are offered until 9pm during the week, and technical services are offered from 7pm-midnight, and circulation and reserve services are open until ten minutes before closing. Self-checkout machines and online renewal services are designed to make checking out and renewing materials as easy as possible. In Fall of 2007, WVU Libraries began offering Ask-a-Librarian virtual reference services and has already fielded more than 2,000 queries since then, with Evansdale Library logging the highest percentage of questions answered nearly every month.

Since 2003, WVU Libraries has participated in the LIBQUAL survey to discover where it could improve on its service and collections and how to build on the services it already offers. Based on the results of this survey, WVU Libraries has taken steps to address students’ most urgent areas of concern, focusing on providing better help-desk service to students through initiating better training and offering new services such as Ask-a-Librarian. As of 2007, all user groups surveyed saw a rise in the perceived level of service.