The CT State Northwestern Library is here to serve the information needs of our faculty and staff. We offer a wide array of resources and services to better serve our campus community.  Located in the Learning Resource Center, the Northwestern Library is a modern facility that serves the Northwestern community as well as the greater community of Litchfield County and beyond.

CT State Northwestern Library Staff

• Jim Patterson, Director, 860.738.6482
• Seth Kershner, Librarian, 860.738.6481
• Naomi Toftness, Librarian, 860.738.6477
• Jeremy Withnell, Library Associate-Public Services, 860.738.6478

Faculty members may schedule time to come to the library classroom and have a librarian introduce students to research methods and library resources.

• Library classes typically last 75 minutes.
• Librarians customize their instruction to your course and assignment needs.
• Instruction works best when applied to a specific assignment. Please share your assignment with the librarian!
• Library instruction serves as a foundation for students' future academic research and helps them attain valuable information literacy skills.
• Classes may focus on search strategies, search terms, and evaluation of sources.
• Classes are interactive, engaging, and encourage students to think through research problems in small groups. 
• Librarian instruction serves as a collaboration between faculty and librarians.
• Students directly connect to a librarian, giving a "face" to the library.
• Helpful Library Research Guides supplement instruction.
• Schedule a library class early in the semester or contact the library or Learning Center at least two weeks in advance to ensure that you get the day/time you want.

Information Literacy is the heart of the mission of the Northwestern Library.  Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) is the practical outcome of this mission.  Library staff is dedicated to providing thorough instruction tailored to the needs of classes and individual students.

• Information Literacy Instruction at Northwestern takes place in the Library Lab (LRC 208).
• Instruction is customized to the needs of the class. Tool-based instruction may focus on how to use electronic research databases, the library catalog, and so on. Librarians also help students narrow their interests down to a researchable, thesis-sized topic; or to distinguish between popular and peer-reviewed material. Classes are also interactive, and emphasize hands-on work with the students.
• To ensure that our instruction librarians have adequate time to prepare, please submit your requests for Information Literacy Instruction at least one week in advance.
• A copy of your course syllabus, a description of the research assignments required of your class(es), and/or any other information should be sent to us at least three business days prior to the session.

Library or faculty-owned materials may be placed in the Reserve Collection at the request of faculty members and are used only by students. These materials circulate for one of four loan periods: in-library use only, overnight, 2-day or 7-day. Faculty and students may access the Reserve Collection at the Front Desk.  Items may be found in the Library’s online catalog.  For more information, please contact Ann Marie Hyres, 860.738.6479.

Interlibrary loan is a privilege extended to current Northwestern students, faculty, and staff who have first exhausted this library’s resources. For a special item not available at our library or through our CSCU consortium, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows you to borrow items from us that we obtain for you from other libraries. Guest patrons with interlibrary loan needs are referred to their public libraries for assistance.

Please allow a minimum of ten business days for fulfillment of loan requests.  For more information, please contact Jeremy Withnell, 860.738.6478.

CT State Northwestern faculty and staff enjoy borrowing privileges at the participating academic libraries of the Council of Connecticut Ac
ademic Libraries (CCALD).

These libraries include all the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities as well as: 

• St. Joseph University (W. Hartford)
• Trinity College (Hartford)
• Hartford Seminary
• University of Bridgeport

... and many more. 

You will be need to obtain a special library card at the Northwestern Campus Library. You will also be required to observe all policies of the lending libraries, which may differ greatly from those of the Northwestern Campus Library. 

For more information about CCALD, including a list of participating libraries, click here.