About Us
Cowles Library is the largest private academic library in Iowa. Our purpose is to support the educational goals of Drake University by providing services, collections, technology, and learning opportunities that make it possible for faculty and students to successfully access and use information.
The Library is home to the Drake University Archives & Special Collections, which collects, arranges, preserves, and makes accessible the permanent records of the University and materials that relate to the political and social history of Iowa.
We are also a selective Federal Depository Library for government documents, and the building is open to the general public during regular building hours. A dedicated computer for electronic government publications is available for public use. For help with government documents in the library, ask at the Information Desk. For help with online government documents, use our Ask a Librarian service.
Library Hours
Complete list of regular and special hours for the current semester.
Staff Directory
Cowles Library faculty and staff. Other directories include subject specialists and your department’s faculty library liaison.
Midnight Hall
Formerly known as “After Hours Study” or “Lower Commons,” Midnight Hall offers Drake students a high-quality study space outside of regular library hours.
Library Faculty Documents
This page provides access to Cowles Library’s Faculty governance documents. Most of the Faculty positions within Cowles Library are tenured, tenure-track, or other Faculty appointments.
Policies
The basic rules of how the Library works.
Location and Contact Information
How to find us, how to get in touch.
Jobs at the Library
Application information for student employment at the Library. (For full-time positions, visit the Drake Employment page.)
Mission
Cowles Library transforms lives and strengthens communities in a democratic society by equipping students, faculty, and staff with quality information and teaching them to find it adeptly, evaluate it critically, and employ it ethically.
Vision
Cowles Library envisions a future where:
- The library is recognized as the intellectual “heart of the university.”
- Scholarly information is freely and easily available, with no roadblocks to access. The scholarly information system serves researchers and students, not for-profit corporations.
- The electronic and digital collections continue to expand to meet our users’ curricular and research needs, while the physical collection is honed to focus on materials not available electronically, those of specific importance to the University, and the portion of the human record Drake holds as part of the collective collection.