15  CAMPUS RESOURCES

15.0.1 Libraries

The College libraries—Stewart Memorial Library, located at the center of the campus and Fisher Music Library in Marquis Hall—contain over 500,000 volumes and 16,000 pieces of media. Current subscriptions to some 3,500 periodicals and serials are maintained in print or electronic format, and over 200,000 electronic resources with books and journal volumes added annually.

The collections ably support undergraduate education and are especially strong in the areas of literature, history, and music. The Fisher Music Library contains over 5,000 compact discs and records, 5,300 scores and books, and is equipped with listening facilities. Media services to the campus are provided through the Media Technologies Department in the library. These services include a circulating collection of over 8,000 DVDs, two media-equipped auditorium styled classrooms, editing stations, an innovation studio that houses a 3D printer and laser cutter, and a variety of cameras, recording equipment available for use.

The main library houses the Learning Commons (see description below) and the college archives. The library provides an outstanding research collection consisting of both print and electronic books, journals, and reference resources. The Reference Department assists students with their research needs through one on one research assistance, evaluating resources and websites, citation assistance and multimedia evaluation. In addition to library orientations, research classes are offered on specific course related topics. The library offers computer stations, iPad and laptop checkouts, study areas for individual and group study, including technology enhanced study rooms. These resources are greatly augmented by providing access to over 100 scholarly databases and an extensive webpage: coe.edu/library.

The George T. Henry College Archives includes a research room and a climate-controlled vault located on the lower level of the Stewart Memorial Library. It houses and preserves the institutional records of Coe College and the papers of staff, students, and alumni of the college. Archive staff is available to aid students, faculty, and scholars in navigation and use of more than 900 linear feet of primary source documents. The Archives maintains the papers of journalist, author, and World War II broadcaster William L. Shirer, Coe class of 1925 author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; the literary works and selected private papers of Iowa poet Paul Engle, Coe class of 1931; and the photographs of longtime Coe College photographer George T. Henry.

15.0.2 Learning Commons

The Coe Learning Commons in the Stewart Memorial Library integrates all of the College’s academic support resources in a single location at the heart of campus delivered through peer education and by professional staff. Services and resources include academic coaching, supplemental advising, Writing Center, AAP-TRIO program, tutoring, accessibility support and accommodations, academic technology, Office of Off-Campus Study, and fellowship and graduate school advising.

15.0.3 Art Collections

Selections from the College’s Permanent Collection of Art totaling over 800 works by 200 artists are displayed in and near many of the campus buildings. Most visible are the large outdoor sculptures on the campus, yet almost every building features selections from the Permanent Collection.  For example, the Ella Poe Burling collection of nineteenth-century American and French art and antiques is exhibited in the upper lobby of Voorhees Hall.

A large portion of the Permanent Collection can be found in Stewart Memorial Library.  Four special galleries contain works by renowned American painters Grant Wood, Marvin Cone (Coe class of 1914), and Conger Metcalf (Coe class of 1936). Six large farm murals by Grant Wood constitute the heart of the Permanent Collection’s Regionalist works. These murals are supplemented by nine smaller yet significant works by Wood, including Daughters of Revolution, a charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper drawing of Wood’s painting of the same name.

Another signature feature of the Regionalist collection is the work of Marvin Cone. A 1914 Coe graduate, Cone later became a faculty member who founded the College’s Art Department. Cone personally selected many of the paintings and drawings in the collection as representative of his own artistic development, underscoring the historic role of art as a core element in Coe’s teaching mission.

In addition to the works by native Iowans Cone and Wood, Coe College has acquired a distinguished collection of 70 works by Conger Metcalf, an American modernist painter, as well as paintings, drawings, and prints by notable artists such as Milton Avery, Mauricio Lasansky, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol.

More information about the Permanent Collection can be found on either the Permanent Collection’s website, http://picovado.com/jrogers/#-h2-introduction-h2-, or the library’s webpage, www.coe.edu/academics/stewart-memorial-library.

15.0.4 Information Technology

The Information Technology Office provides a wide range of technology support to students, faculty and staff. This includes management of computer labs, classroom technology, college-wide software licensing, wi-fi/internet, printers, cable TV, sound equipment, My Coe (my.coe.edu) and more. Coe’s technology facilities include over 3,000 ethernet ports, full ethernet and wi-fi internet services within all campus buildings, 250 public/lab computers available for student use and full access to G-Suite services. The Office of Information Technology is located in Voorhees Hall. Assistance from the IT staff can be requested through a Help Desk/Spiceworks ticket (https://coecollege.on.spiceworks.com/portal/). 

15.0.5 Public Events and Artists-in-Residence

Guest lecturers and artists provide an essential dynamism to the educational climate at Coe. Programs are free to Coe students. In addition to hearing speakers of national and international note, students may have the opportunity to talk with them during a carry tray lunch, to attend special issues dinners with the speakers, or to have them as guests in a class. Performing groups appearing as artists-in-residence often stay two or three days on campus to work with students.

15.0.5.1 Marquis Lecture & Performance Series

The Marquis Lecture & Performance Series hosts performances and presentations throughout the academic year. The Marquis Series is endowed by a gift from Sarah Marquis, Coe class of 1918, in honor of her father, John A. Marquis, who was president of Coe from 1909 to 1919.

15.0.5.2 Coe College Contemporary Issues Forum

The Coe College Contemporary Issues Forum brings to audiences of the College community the presence and

views of distinguished professionals whose work has received national recognition. The forum is normally presented during the month of February.

15.0.5.3 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar

The Coe chapter of Phi Beta Kappa sponsors a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar who, in addition to presenting a public lecture, meets with individual classes as appropriate to the scholar’s area of expertise.