The Grinnell College Libraries--Burling Library, the Curriculum
Library, and the Kistle Science Library--serve the instructional,
research, and general information needs of the campus community.
The libraries fulfill their mission through (1) on-site
provision of books, periodicals, microforms, sound recordings,
electronic resources, and other library materials; (2) mediated
access to off-campus information sources; and (3) active
programs of information literacy: teaching the concepts
needed to navigate the profusion of available sources and
to evaluate critically the information, texts, and images
discovered therein. As depositories for federal and state
government publications, the libraries make such documents
available to residents of Iowa and promote the use of these
resources. The libraries serve as the archives for the official
and unofficial records of Grinnell College; through the
Department of Special Collections and Archives they seek
to collect, preserve, and make available for research, sources
that document the history of Grinnell College and its cultural
and natural surroundings in Iowa, including the prairie
setting of which it is a part.
