5 resources to ‘check out’ for National Library Week

Published April 7, 2021
Updated Oct. 18, 2021

ASU student plays a record in the Music Library National Library Week is celebrated each year to bring awareness to the critical role libraries play in society contributing to Americans’ happiness and well-being. As an academic library, the ASU Library connects students, faculty and staff to millions of information resources, rare materials, archival collections, unique learning spaces and creative centers, and a variety of support services.

In honor of National Library Week, here are five resources available to you through the ASU Library that you may not know about:

Free admission to museums and arboretums. Planning a trip to Arcosanti? How about an afternoon at the Heard Museum or a date night at the Desert Botanical Garden? The ASU Library provides free admission for two people to various cultural institutions around Phoenix as part of the Culture Pass program. Available at all library locations, culture passes are searchable via the library’s OneSearch.

A vinyl collection. Put a record on, sit back and listen to a wide variety of music styles, including jazz, classical, rock and roll and country western, at the Music Library, which houses one of the largest collections of music materials in the Southwest. The vinyl collection offers selections from the late 1950s through the 1980s.

A podcast on misinformation. Hosted regularly by the ASU Library’s director of data science, Michael Simeone, in partnership with Shawn Walker, an assistant professor of data studies. Produced by multimedia developer Laura Davis, “Misinfo Weekly” is an episodic deep dive into understanding misinformation in our time — breaking down basic and advanced concepts, as well as tracking and tracing how misinformation events come to be — with major implications for health, news, entertainment and politics.

All the games. Students, faculty and staff can check out games — classic games, eurogames, card games and more — for a period of 7 days. Fletcher Library on the West campus, home to the largest game collection at ASU, hosts a regular game night. 

Time portals. Otherwise known as books and archival materials, these figurative portals can transport you to the 16th century or the early days of Arizona. Discover the early journal writings of Indigenous poet Simon Ortiz or the 1975 master’s thesis of ASU alumna Temple Grandin, animal science expert and autism advocate, housed at the Polytechnic Campus Library.

Happy exploring!