Paul Laurence Dunbar Library

The Paul Laurence Dunbar Library plays an important role in instruction and research activities at Wright State University. The library collections, among the largest in the Dayton metropolitan area, include over 590,000 bound volumes, over one million microforms, 350,000 government documents, 4,000 serial subscriptions, and more than 4,000 media or visual items. The library is open more than 100 hours per week, longer during exam periods. In addition to the walk-in assistance available in the information/reference area during most hours, students may make appointments with reference librarians for in-depth assistance. Librarians also offer group instruction through a series of regularly offered workshops on topics ranging from basic research introduction to advanced searching of Web resources and specialized databases.

As a partial U.S. government documents depository, the library provides students and the general public with access to electronic and print documents, including over 30,000 geographical and topographical maps from all over the United States. The Libraries are each a designated Patent and Trademark Depository Library with collection materials accessible in the Dunbar Library.

Special Collections and Archives houses collections on aviation history and Wright State University history, as well as one of the most extensive collections of Wright brothers materials, including more than 4,000 original photographs made by the Wrights to document their achievements.