Did You Know? EWU's Library is Part of the World's Largest International Library Network

Most students walk into the library thinking of it as just that, the library. What far fewer know is that EWU's own Dr. S. R. Lasker Library has held a seat at an international table since 2009. The library has been a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, better known as IFLA, since 2009.

IFLA is the leading global body representing libraries and information professionals worldwide, founded in Edinburgh in 1927 and headquartered at the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague. Today, it brings together more than 1,400 member organizations spanning over 150 countries, making it, by its own description, the most international library organization in the world.

Being part of that network is not symbolic. It ties EWU's library into a global conversation on how libraries evolve, share resources, and serve their communities, the same conversation that shapes library practice from national libraries to university systems around the world.

The recognition sits alongside a library that has quietly built a genuinely substantial academic backbone since its founding in 1996. Today it holds over 31,000 physical books, 120,000 e-books, 58,000 online journals, more than 160 print journal and magazine titles, 6,000 theses, and 19 preserved newspapers, alongside a growing digital collection built to support research across every department at EWU.

The library also started its Information Literacy Program in 2010 and made it a mandatory part of membership by 2013, a decision that continues to shape how EWUians are trained to actually navigate information, not just consume it.

So the next time you walk past the library building, know it holds an international seat most people never think to ask about.