Mission
The Northeastern University Library supports the mission of the University by working in partnership with the University community to develop and disseminate new scholarship. The Library fosters intellectual and professional growth, enriches the research, teaching, and learning environment, and promotes the effective use of knowledge by managing and delivering information resources and services to library users.
Northeastern University Library Strategic Directions 2016-2020
Other Libraries at Northeastern University
The University is also served by the Northeastern University School of Law Library.
Facts and Statistics
Northeastern University Library collections as of June 2020 comprise:
- 490,812 printed books (titles)
- 1,080,981 ebooks
- 154,114 licensed e-journals
- 126,844 streaming audio and video
Snell Library
The Snell Library building opened in 1990. It was designed by the Cambridge-based firm The Architect's Collaborative (TAC). The cost of the building was $35 million.
Snell Library is named after George Snell '41, and his wife Lorraine.
- FY2019 visitor entrances into the Snell Library building: 2,090,081
- Snell Library size: 200,000 square feet (approx.)
Support for Open Access
Read about the Northeastern University Library's support for Open Access publishing.
The staff of the Northeastern University Library is committed to disseminating their research output as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the Library has adopted an Open Access policy.
Partnerships and Initiatives
For shared borrowing and lending, the Northeastern University Libraries are a member of the Boston Library Consortium, a group of research libraries in the Greater Boston area.
We are also members of:
- Center for Research Libraries
- Hathi Trust
- Internet Archive/Open Content Alliance
- PORTICO - a digital preservation and archiving service
- NERL NorthEast Research Libraries consortium (affiliate member)
- NISO National Information Standards Organization
- Open Textbook Network
- SHARES OCLC resource sharing and library partnership group
Student Advisory Council
Our Student Advisory Council is a forum for students to communicate with the library on existing and new library services and initiatives, including collection development and access to information, services, space use and facilities, and technology.