When the Owen Library was opened in 1977, it was planned to be a building that would never need to physically expand. Librarians and teaching faculty of the day thought that the use of microforms would create a library collection that would grow in volume at an extremely slow rate. Instead, electronic materials, principally electronic journals, are starting to make this goal more reachable, despite large increases in our holdings of printed books and journals over the years. These electronic materials also allow WSU students, faculty and staff to use more and more of Owen’s collections 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whether they are on campus or elsewhere in the state.
The Owen Library includes a map room, many public computers (as well as one "creativity station" with a scanner, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, and ArcGIS), hot-wired study carrels, laptop computers for in-library use, and wireless network access.
The WSU Emeritus Society can be found on third floor Owen. Their office phone number is 335-8090.
Library Hours
Fall Semester Hours, August 25th-December 19th 2008 Monday - Thursday7:30am -10:45pm Friday7:30am - 5:45pm Saturday12:00 Noon - 5:45pm Sunday12:00 Noon -10:45pm
Contact the Owen Library
Circulation desk or Reserves desk phone number: (509) 335-2672
Information desk: (509) 335-2674 or email or instant message a question to a librarian.
The Owen Science and Engineering Library is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of College Avenue and Library Road (both pedestrian only). Very limited metered parking is available directly behind the library (both on Nevada St and on Washington St). For further parking help, contact Parking and Transportation.
Reference Services
The Owen Library provides assistance to residents of Washington State and to WSU students, faculty and staff. Reference assistance is provided to help library users to learn about the resources and services of the libraries and to solve any problems library users may encounter in the course of their studies. The librarians are also happy to answer any questions posed by email, instant message, or by phone (509) 335-2674.
Intersession Reference Desk Hours: June 26th-August 17th 2008 ON CALL REFERENCE - Ask for help at the Check-Out Desk, or contact the librarian in your subject areaThe Owen Reference Librarians also work with specific subject areas to
- Buy books and other library materials for the library.
- Provide consultation for research questions.
- Teach library instruction classes.
For e-journal help, please see our introduction to electronic journals available at WSU
Library Assignments
Professors who intend to give their students an assignment that requires use of the library are encouraged to fill out the Library Assignment Form to make the librarians aware of your assignment.
Collection Areas and Subject Resources:
Agricultural Sciences (General)
Animal Science
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Biological Systems Engineering
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Crop & Soil Sciences
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Entomology
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Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
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Food Science & Human Nutrition
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Forestry & Range Management
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Molecular & Plant Sciences
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Plant Pathology
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Wildlife Biology
Engineering (General)
Bioengineering
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Chemical Engineering
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Civil & Environmental Engineering
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Electrical Engineering
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Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Human Health Sciences
Pre-Sciences and Pre-Health Sciences
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Speech & Hearing Sciences
Sciences (General)
Astronomy
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Biochemistry
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Biology
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Botany
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Cartography
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Chemistry
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Computer Science
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Environmental Sciences
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Genetics & Cell Biology
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Geology
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Mathematics
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Microbiology
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Molecular Biosciences
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Molecular & Plant Sciences
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Physics
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Plant Physiology
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Statistics
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Zoology