Saint Louis University has joined the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), a consortium that provides access to resources from over 200 libraries. Jennifer Nutefall, dean of Libraries and Museums at Saint Louis University, highlighted the benefits this membership will bring to faculty, staff, and students. “To start, the on-demand digitization and document delivery, as well as the interlibrary loan capabilities, will really benefit our researchers, especially those in the humanities,” Nutefall stated.
The CRL aims to support advanced research and teaching by leveraging collective resources to provide access to unique primary source materials. Member institutions gain access to scholarly resources and benefit from cooperative collection building and preservation efforts.
Greg Eow, President of CRL, expressed enthusiasm about Saint Louis University’s membership: “CRL is delighted to welcome Saint Louis University into the CRL community,” he said. “CRL is in a moment of growth – in membership, collections, and services – and we are excited about the ways that CRL and Saint Louis University can partner to build strong, global collections to support the knowledge creation enterprise.”
Nutefall sees this new affiliation as a recognition of SLU’s library quality. The university’s three St. Louis-based libraries—Pius XII Memorial Library, Medical Center Library, and Vincent C. Immel Law Library—are now part of CRL. “This really ups our game to be among this group,” she remarked.
SLU’s Vatican Film Library contains over 40,000 manuscripts dating from the 4th to 17th centuries in microfilm and digital formats from various sources including Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Nutefall noted its importance for studies in history, literature, religion among other subjects: “It offers rich collections for study in history…science and medicine,” she said.
The Center for Research Libraries is based in Chicago and operates as a nonprofit international consortium governed by its members. Its diverse collections are curated by specialists at major U.S. and Canadian research universities who collaborate on identifying important content for preservation.
