Stop by JFK to see this curated display of recent materials, all available to check out.

Banned Books Week – October 5-11, 2025

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

Previous DEI Displays:

• Workplace Diversity
• Civil Rights & Democracy
• Immigration/Refugees
• Neurodiveristy
• Celebrating Black Music
• Age Discrimination | Ageism
• White Privilege, Power, and Supremacy
• Lives and Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees
• BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Authors
• Banned Books
• LGBTQA+ Pride 
• Religion
• Implicit Bias, Microaggressions
• Poverty
• Disabilities and Chronic Health Conditions
• Exploring Public Heath: Building Stronger, Healthier Communities

About

The EWU Libraries and Learning Commons is committed to providing and supporting a welcoming, safe and inclusive environment for all members of our diverse campus community. Our commitment reflects the long-standing pledge to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the library profession and incorporates the DEI goals of the EWU Strategic Plan.

DEI in the library is about recognizing all members of our campus community, realizing that each individual is unique.

In order to better promote DEI materials and resources in the library collection that help build a foundation for greater understanding in the community, we have created a new, highly visible and accessible topic area in the JFK Lobby, adjacent to the New Books section. While we will continue to feature multicultural resource displays in the central lobby, this permanent DEI location will highlight resources on specific DEI topics and themes that are timely and impactful, in a monthly rotation.

This is a collaborative effort among library faculty and staff, library student workers and campus partners.

Display themes will be generated through shared discussion and campus collaboration, with input from library student workers.

For more information on this initiative, please contact Qing Stellwagen, Professor, Librarian for Ethnic Studies & Center, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS), Political Science, and International Affairs (qstellwagen@ewu.edu).

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• 202,637 people entered JFK Library
• 11,619 questions answered at main service desks
• 805 research consultations with library faculty members
• 328 library instruction sessions conducted
• 2,695,802 database searches
• 301,922 eBook items downloaded
• 8,725 books or media checked out or requested from other libraries
• 5,198 laptop, camera, and other equipment loans
• 1351,789 Digital Commons (institutional repository) works downloaded

In winter quarter’s “Furniture Lab,” we asked students to test various furniture types and provide feedback. Thank you for your participation! Your comments informed our choices for our new calm study room.

Located on the upper floor of JFK, JFK U08 features alternative

• seating choices (including kneeling, adjustable height, bean bag, ergonomic and wobbling chairs, as well as a padded rug),
• work surfaces (including a standing desk, and an adjustable height lounge table), and
• lighting options (overhead lighting, adjustable goose-neck lamp with tone variability, and a seasonal affective disorder lamp).

This room is available via reservation. Reserve use of the Calm Study Room at the JFK main level Circulation Desk, email circulation@ewu.edu,  or call 509.359.7888.

If you have comments or questions, please let us know!

Based on student need and usage patterns, we are happy to open two new group study rooms on the JFK upper floor! Rooms U05 and U07 are now available for walk-up study groups!

Need to reserve a room? We’ve got spaces for that – visit the Circulation Desk on the main floor in the lobby to inquire about availability.

More info is available on this webpage, or take a look at our Group Study Rooms brochure!

Group Study in JFK Brochure

Announcing New Access to NYTimes.com through EWU Libraries

We have subscribed to the New York Times – News Access Academic Pass product, with access to news articles and more!

• Once registered, students can access NYTimes.com until Dec. 31 of the graduation year they choose.
• Faculty and staff will have four years of access, after which they must reauthenticate.

Learn more on our libguide: https://research.ewu.edu/articles_all_subjects/nyt

Need a very quiet place to study without phone calls, talking, or audible media use? Look for our silent study areas, located on each floor.

Silent study areas are highlighted on building maps, and have posted wall and standing signs throughout the JFK library.

Need assistance? Contact the Circulation Desk, open during all hours of operation.

circulation@ewu.edu | Main Level Lobby Desk | 509.359.7888

The JFK Library has undergone a transformation over the summer.

Returning students, faculty, and staff visiting the library can look forward to expanded resources, improved organization, greater access to collections, and more designated quiet study and collaborative spaces. 

Many of the changes are in response to feedback from the campus community, including faculty who requested additional databases to support student-faculty research and experiential learning projects.

“We’ve already had positive feedback from patrons over the summer and intersession. We encourage everyone to check out the improvements, both physical and new online resources,” says Ielleen R. Miller, library faculty chair and director of the School of Libraries. 

Many of the JFK projects were years in the works, says Miller, adding “they were only made possible with the dedication of all of the library staff and faculty, and our fantastic student workers.”

As fall quarter gets underway, the JFK team would like to highlight specific improvements that library users can expect to see. 

Easier Access

• Books are consolidated on the upper level of JFK, increasing access and browsability. (The Curriculum Center collection remains on JFK’s lower level.)
• Some books that were dated, or hadn’t been borrowed in twenty or more years, were deselected,  creating additional space to support current and emerging curriculum needs. 
• Shelf signage is improved, enabling browsing by subject. 
• Building maps are  redesigned making  it easier to discover resources, services, books and materials, group study rooms and silent study areas.

See the Floor Maps

eTextbook Program

The JFK team worked with EagleStore to enhance textbook options to decrease costs for students. The library identified course-adopted textbooks in stock, and others that could be purchased in unlimited-use ebook versions. While the percentage of textbooks JFK currently provides is only around 17%, the total potential savings for students during winter 2023 though spring 2024 was $454,000.

Learn more about this program

Additional Group Study Rooms

Usage patterns showed that students needed more study areas. After surveying underused library spaces, the team created two additional group study rooms on JFK’s upper level, bringing the total to 27 rooms. Planning is underway to augment one of these rooms to serve neurodivergent needs in the very near future.

See more about study rooms

Silent Study Areas

JFK has created silent study areas to ensure that students, faculty and staff can work in quiet conditions. The areas are volume-enforced and free of phone calls, talking or audible media use. In addition, noise-canceling headphones are available for checkout at the lower-level equipment desk in case library users need an extra layer of quiet.

New Database Access 

New York Times via nytimes.com:  Create an account for the New York Times via their website. Go online for directions on activating your personal account. (This version does not include add-ons such as Games, Cooking, etc.)

APA’s Academic Writer: Academic Writer is APA’s complete digital environment for teaching, learning, and writing academic papers in APA citation style. Users must create an account before starting. This resource is courtesy of the Psychology Department and EWU Libraries.

Asian American Experience: Scholarly books and encyclopedias, as well as hundreds of primary source documents and photographs for the histories and cultures of the Native American peoples.

Atla Religion Database (EBSCOhost): Indexes 2,500 journals related to religion and theology.

 ComDisDome: Covers communication disorders, focusing on speech-language pathology and audiology.

DSM Library: Includes the full text of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), DSM-5 Handbook of Differential Diagnosis, DSM-5 Clinical Cases, the DSM-5 Handbook on the Cultural Formation Interview and the Spanish Edition of the Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5.

Newspapers.com: This extensive online database offers access to 4,000+ historical newspapers, published from the early 1700s through the 2000s. This collection contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in the U.S. and other countries.

Project MUSE: JFK has upgraded to the Premium Collection, which provides access to an additional 347 journals.

We are shifting our collections at the JFK Library in an access-improvement project that runs through August 15. If you need assistance locating materials at JFK, please visit the circulation desk on the main floor. We are happy to help!

circulation@ewu.edu | 509.359.7888

• 336,137 total item downloads (articles, pdfs, videos)
• 348,633 views of library research guides
• 136,020 eBook chapters viewed or downloaded
• 171,323 Digital Commons (institutional repository) works downloaded
• 7,848 books checked out (including curriculum center books)
• 321 library instruction sessions conducted
• 11,922 questions answered at library desks (including research consultations)
• 3,339 interlibrary loan items borrowed, 5,340 lent to other libraries
• 4,790 laptop, camera, and other equipment loans