History and Scope of the Institute Library
IEAS Library was founded in 1958 as a branch library of the University’s Central Library to help the research work of the teaching staff at the former English Department. By now, however, it has grown into one of the biggest institute libraries at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities with a collection comprising approximately 52,000 books, 164 periodical titles (32 current and 132 back issues) and more than 2,450 audio-visual documents, including cassettes, CDs, video tapes, and DVDs.
During the past two decades, there has been a change in the scope of functions and, as a consequence, also in the field of acquisitions, as the number of students majoring in English has tripled. The library’s main mission is to meet the book demands of graduate and postgraduate students studying at the Institute and also to promote the professional development of teachers of English in this part of Hungary.
The main emphasis in the collection, in addition to the basic English language and linguistics materials, is on British, American, Canadian and Australian studies, i.e. the literature, history and civilization of the major English-speaking countries, with special attention paid to acquiring books in multiple copies for courses offered at the institute.
During the past few years, however, some new emphases have come to the limelight in the growth of stock: books on Irish, Gender and Media Studies have by now become a major strength of our collection.
From 2006, IEAS library comprises the collection of the former Centre for English Teacher Training (now the Department of English Language Learning and Teaching) and that of the British Council Resource Centre. The so-called “Kassai Library” was founded in 1991 to help the work of students and teachers by providing information and resources to assist the effective teaching and learning of English language and culture. As a consequence, IEAS library has by now, among others, a massive collection on English language teaching methodology.
How to find a book
Due to lack of space, the institute library has had to organize its work at two locations, in Room 116/3 and in Room 101, which means that services and loans are divided between these two library units.
While Room 116/3 is, first of all, a place where books and course materials that are in heavy demand and are available in multiple copies are issued to students, Room 101 is available, beside borrowing, for doing library research through the use of computers, for making photocopies or for reading books on reserve.
Furthermore, we have divided the library stock as follows:
- In Room 116/3 you will find multiple/additional copies of everything + copies of works of literature on reserve + books on Canadian/Australian/Irish/Postcolonial Studies/World Literature and History/Social Sciences/Media/Arts + books on Shakespeare + videos/DVDs
- In Room 101 you can help yourself to copies of everything on reserve + periodicals + boos on British/American/Literary/Cultural Studies + Language/Linguistics/ELT Methodology + audio-cassettes/CDs
The majority of the library collection is on open shelves, which means that patrons are welcome to remove the required items themselves.
Each of the countries whose culture is the subject of study at the Institute has its own section and these sections are further subdivided to integrate books on related subject areas. If you want to find a particular book, make sure you consult the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) of the University and National Library of Debrecen University (DEENK), where you can search about 25,500 book records from our institute library. The call numbers of the books stand for abbreviations of the subject divisions according to which the books are arranged on open shelves and they are indicated on yellow labels in each section to help navigate you to find the book yourself. The room numbers of the books will inform you to which unit of IEAS Library to turn to if you want to borrow them.
If you need any further help, feel free to ask the library staff for advice.
Services
- a reference and loan service for books and materials in specific areas related to courses offered by IEAS
- an area for reading academic journals as well as newspapers and magazines
- listening and viewing facilities for audio and video cassettes
- facilities to use computer-based programs and the internet
- a bibliographical service for books, journals and documents