SLS-Linguistics Reading Room
The Reading Room (as it is more commonly known) occupies Room 572, Moore Hall. It is a facility which is shared with the Department of Linguistics, our neighbors on the fifth floor. In addition to the collection related to linguistics, the SLS sections of the Reading Room contain a modest collection of a) academic books on applied linguistics and language learning, b) textbooks for teaching various aspects of SLS, and c) research and professional journals in applied linguistics and SLA, as well as most of the PhD dissertations, MA theses, and Scholarly Papers written in the department, course materials placed on reserve for selected courses, and a small amount of other reference material. The Reading Room is not a lending library; materials do not circulate, and can only be read or consulted during the hours the room is open (though faculty may check out items).
The Reading Room has a long history. It was established when the (then) Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language saw the light of day back in 1960. The East-West Center, which provided all of the students in the original interdisciplinary MATESL program, made funds available for a small library of teaching texts and materials to support the program. The collection has steadily grown from when it consisted of relatively few books housed in the old ELI/MATESL offices, which were located where the new School of Architecture now is on University Avenue across from Atherton YMCA/YWCA. The collection then went to Kuykendall Hall when the MATESL program moved there. The last move was to its present location in Moore Hall.
Both departments contribute acquisitions to the Reading Room, and share responsibility for monitoring the facility. The Reading Room is staffed by volunteer “monitors” (students from both departments), as well as Graduate Assistants and work-study staff. Donations of items to the Reading Room are always welcome, especially English language teaching texts from foreign countries.
A joint SLS–Linguistics student organization (FLERR–Friends of the Linguistics–SLS Reading Room) manages student access to Reading Room equipment.
The number of hours the Reading Room is open is a function of the number of volunteers available and the amount of time they can devote to monitoring. The Reading Room is open during the fall and spring semesters, but is only open during the summer on an irregular basis.
The Reading Room catalog is an electronic database. It may be accessed from one of the computers in the Reading Room..
