Grinnell College Libraries

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Grinnell College Libraries

Burling Library, designed by Walter A. Netsch, Jr., of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, was built in 1959. Named for Mrs.

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. Lucy Burnham Burling of Eldora, Iowa, the new building replaced Carnegie Hall as the college's main library. The renovation and expansion of Burling Library to 60,739 square feet took place in 1982-1983 unde

r the direction of Ben Weese, of Weese Segers Hickey Weese, Ltd. of Chicago, whose design doubled the study and shelf space available in the original building. The Kistle Science Library was constructed in 2007 encompassing 10,553 square feet. It serves the entire campus and contains books, journals, and other materials pertaining to the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics, Psychology, and their associated majors and concentrations. The Library is located on the second floor, north side of the Noyce Science Center (1116 8th Avenue) and is named after Helen Pierce Kistle, who graduated from the College in 1938.

06/23/2026

Learn about the The Burling Library Takeover & The Creation of The Black Library!

Link 👉https://black-library.grinnell.edu/

The Black Library is more than a simple specialty section of the library; it’s a result of incredible student activism by Grinnell students, aimed at promoting greater social justice, representation, and equality in the library. Located on the second floor of Burling Library, the Black Library houses a small portion of scholarship and writings by African and African American scholars available at Burling Library.

This site was created by Libby Cave and Mark McFate.

06/22/2026

Happening this week in Burling Library:

June 25th
Summer Research @ Burling
Burling Lounge | 1:00 -2:00 pm

06/19/2026

The Grinnell College Libraries are closed today in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.

06/18/2026

Join us today from 1:00-2:00 in Burling Lounge for a Summer Research @ Burling session about Primary Sources and Digital Publishing.

In this session, students will learn about both primary source research and digital publishing options for sharing their work on the web. Students will first get an introduction to methods for accessing primary sources and research materials in the Special Collections of the Library. This will be followed by an overview of several digital platforms for publishing research results on the web from the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative (DLAC). Consideration will also be given to the affordances of digital publishing and to issues of appropriate norms for copyright, accessibility, and privacy. Refreshments will be served.

06/15/2026

Happening this week in Burling Library:

June 18th
Summer Research @ Burling
Burling Lounge | 1:00 -2:00 pm

06/11/2026

Join us today from 1:00-2:00 in Burling Lounge for a Summer Research @ Burling session about Moving Your Summer Research Forward.

In this discussion-based session, you’ll get targeted refreshers on humanities and social science research along with tips on compiling literature reviews for science students. We’ll also explore citation managers to help you keep track of and cite promising sources. Please bring a laptop or tablet computer to the session. Refreshments will be served.

06/08/2026

Happening this week in Burling Library:

June 11th
Summer Research @ Burling
Burling Lounge | 1:00 -2:00 pm

05/25/2026

The Grinnell College Libraries are closed today in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

05/19/2026

Please note our early summer hours. 🌷

Burling Library:
Tuesday, May 19, to Friday, May 22, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday, May 23 and 24, CLOSED
Monday, May 25, CLOSED - Memorial Day holiday
Tuesday, May 26, to Thursday, May 28, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kistle Science Library:
Tuesday, May 19, to Friday, May 22, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday, May 23 and 24, CLOSED
Monday, May 25, CLOSED - Memorial Day holiday
Tuesday, May 26, to Friday, May 29, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

05/18/2026

Go Forth, Grinnellian! Happy Commencement Day!

Libraries hours for May 18th:
Burling Library: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.; 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Kistle Science Library: Closed

Address

1111 6th Avenue
Grinnell, IA
50112

Website

http://www.grinnell.edu/library

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