Hinckley Library
»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË
Hinckley Library serves »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË students, staff, and faculty, in addition to outreach students and area residents. It is a member of the Wyoming Libraries Database (WYLD) consortium. This membership gives the library access to an automated library system and holdings (information resources) with over 90 other member libraries in Wyoming.
These include:
- academic libraries
- public libraries
- school & special libraries
- Wyoming State Library.
Through enhanced purchasing power we can offer several subscription-only online databases and resources not otherwise possible.
Hinckley Library houses the following collections on two floors with stairs and elevator access:
- Over 68,000 book titles and over 600 online reference books
- An excellent collection of over 105 online full-text databases that provide access to thousands of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles as well as reference information
- Over 385 periodical titles in magazines, journals, and newspapers (including online newspapers)
- State and federal documents (we are a Federal depository library)
- Media resources: movie DVDs, music CDs, and audiobook CDs
- 18,000 pieces of microform–articles, documents & newspapers
- Topographical maps for areas of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Idaho
- Archives for »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË
- Archival image and document collection: World War II Heart Mountain Relocation Camp
Main floor resources:
- instructors' reserves
- reference
- oversized books
- music CDs & scores
- audiovisual: movies and audiobooks
- juvenile
- newspapers
- "new" books & resources
- topographical maps
Main floor equipment/services:
- research help–come see us at front desk
- scanner with color printer
- FAX machine
- MAC/PC computer access to online library resources, Internet & student accounts–located throughout library
- wireless access for personal computers (registered NWC students only)
- wireless PC laptops for in-library use
- math calculators for semester checkout (fraction, trig or graphing)
- electric typewriter
Main floor rooms:
- Late Night Study/computer area
- open computer lab
- study rooms & study areas
- Seminar room (reservable)
- Taggart Room (reservable – No food or drink allowed)
- audiovisual viewing/listening rooms
- amphitheater
Second floor resources:
- second floor book stacks
- periodicals
- government documents
- print indexes
- non-current newspaper storage
Second floor equipment/services:
- Tutoring Services
- Archives
- microform & microform reader
Second floor rooms:
- open computer lab
- study rooms & study areas
Our History
In 1947, about a year after »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË began offering classes in a Powell High School building, John Taggart Hinckley, newly appointed professor of Political Science and History, formed the first college library collection. This initial library amounted to about fifteen books, but by 1949, the collection numbered 100 titles and was bursting off the two shelves allotted in the high school. Professor Hinckley then talked the Powell Public Library director into making space for the college's collection in the Carnegie library building.
During the fall of 1949, the college moved classes and faculty offices from the high school into the "grade school bungalow" or "white house," a remodeled barracks from Heart Mountain Relocation Center located on the high school campus. But it wasn't until 1952 that the library moved into a room of its own in this building. The new library room had plenty of shelving for the collection and tables so that students could study between classes.
In 1954, the college passed its first bond issue to construct Orendorff Building and Johnson Fitness Center. When the Orendorff Building opened in 1957, John Hinckley and several students moved the library, now numbering more than 1,000 volumes into a room in this building.
By the 1960s, the college decided that the collection and library use merited a separate building of its own. With the opening of the Frisby Library (current Frisby Building basement) in 1966, the collection finally had a place to grow. Funds were short to keep the building open during the evenings however, so faculty members took turns as the "evening librarian."
By the 1980s with larger library collections, greater need for technology and expanding specialized services, the library had again outgrown its space. In the spring of 1983, the 21,000 square foot John Taggart Hinckley Library opened to house a collection of 39,000 volumes. Named for Professor Hinckley, who had been so instrumental in starting library service at Northwest, the building included an electronic security system, a seminar classroom, foreign language listening labs, an art display, reading area, computer/typing rooms and an amphitheater for small group performances, lectures, and poetry readings.
The new building was designed for the future and by 1987, it contained a computer lab for student use. Then, in 1990 »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË joined CARL, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. For the first time, library holdings, as well as the holdings of 75 other college, university, and public libraries, were available via computer. Six computer terminals in the library building, allowed students, faculty, and staff to search library collections all over the Rocky Mountain region. Hinckley Library was the first community college in Wyoming to become a full member of the CARL consortium.
In 1997, Hinckley Library left CARL and joined the Wyoming Libraries Database (WYLD), a consortium of ninety public and academic libraries in Wyoming. Through this organization, »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË students, faculty, and staff have access to library resources, electronic databases, and state resources in digital form. To find materials throughout Wyoming, search the library's catalog, WYLDCAT.
Our Learning Outcomes
Through their interaction with library professionals during library instruction sessions, students should become more skilled at:
- identifying the type and extent of information needed.
- selecting and accessing appropriate library databases.
- searching and finding quality information in physical and/or digital formats.
- evaluating the appropriateness of information relative to their research needs.
Library staff will:
- support the missions of the library and of »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË.
- collaborate with faculty and staff to further their instruction needs.
- assist students, faculty, staff, and community members with their library and information needs.
- provide access, both on campus and off campus, to materials and online resources that support classroom and lifelong learning.
- provide a safe learning environment that encourages study and reflection.
Revised by the Library Committee, 2018