The only thing you absolutely have to know,

                          is the location of the Library”.  

                                                        -Albert Einstein                             

                           

       Hearty Welcome to Fr. Gordon Library (formerly College Library) of Andhra Loyola College (Autonomous), Vijayawada.  Our college library is named after Rev. Fr. Douglas Gordon SJ., who was a second Principal of the college and Academic Senate Member of Andhra University.  Fr. Gordon Library is housed with all modern amenities, situated in a mezzanine four storied building covering an area of 12,704 sft., with a seating capacity of 270.  The vision and mission of the library is to provide information services and access to bibliographic, full text both in digital and printed resources to support the scholarly and information needs of all students, faculty members and staff.  The library also caters to outsiders who are registered as members for their academic requirements and interests. 

 Library Timings:   The library remains open on all working days from 8-30 a.m. to 5-30 p.m. .

Timings during Holidays :   Summer vacassion  & other holidays from 10 a.m. to 2  p.m.

Reference and Research Assistance Service is dedicated to assist faculty and students of ALC for their information and document search.  A dedicated library professional staff will be available on the first floor, to assist the users in addressing their reference information requirements. The requirements may include help in identifying the appropriate document, database for research assignments or class work, and mining data, etc.

 Layout of the library (individual reading carrels, lounge area for browsing and relaxed reading, IT zone for accessing e-resources)

1. A separate reading hall for students with two 2 ton A/c’s. and chairs with writing pad in the ground floor of the library. In this section, all the Personality development books, Competitive exams preparation books and retold classics have been arranged. Staff reading space with cushioned Godrej chairs and also curved long cane chairs for relaxed long-hours reading is arranged at the main entrance of the library with fully ventilated natural free air-zone.

2. E-Learning section with two 2 ton A/c’s and 27 revolving computer chairs for both students (4 hours a day) exclusively and for staff (5 hours a day). Different e-resource paid & free sites are made available in this section.  Available e-journals, e-Books, e-Encyclopedias and e-Thesis are made available in flexi small banners for students’ usage.  A separate high-end 02TB SATA Disc GDLC server with Digital books & PPT’s in Wi-Fi environment are made available for class work preparation for teachers & students.

3. Reference Section on the right hand side on the first floor,  has more than 36 different varieties of volume collections including 30-Volume set on Sri Aurobindo, Nobel Laureates’ works, the Oxford Dictionary set of 12 Volumes and more than 100 subject dictionaries are made available for users. Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi (103 Vol), Mathematician Sri Ramanujam’s hand written letters (printed books), great speeches of famous persons, special collections like Atlas, paintings, Great Museums of the World (10 Vol), etc., are also available in this reference section. All these good and rare collections are kept in open access on the first floor in A/c. environment.  During holidays, these are also issued to students for their free time reading.

4. Five stack areas: At the mezzanine first floor, all books on English literature onside and, on the other side of the same floor, reference section arranged.  On the second floor, all Languages and Literature books, books on Arts and Humanities are arranged subject wise, by following DDC (Dewey decimal classification) scheme.  All the science books, Computer & Electronics Textbooks are made available in the same second floor in an extended long hall.  Each stack area is provided with 2 sets of tables and chairs for staff and students for quick reference.  All these stack area’s are connected with LAN. Students can access and check the database from any corner of the library and select books of their choice in an open access system.

5. Back volume stack areas (2 sections) maintained at the top floor i.e. Fourth floor of the mezzanine area. National Geographic books are available from 1935 onwards and the same title CD’s are available for 110 years. Harvard Business Review, popularly known as HBR, Fortune, Forbes Asia, etc. are also available in separate PG stack area. The Hall (back volumes section) is well-maintained with more than 6000 books in the top floor.

 6. Librarian’s Chamber and a separate Book Technical Processing section where new books are processed and sent to stack areas and reference section are also on the ground floor of the library.

7. Visually challenged students books also kept in ground floor.  Access to the premises through prominent display of clearly laid out floor plan, adequate signage, fire alarm. 

1. Floor plan is displayed at the main entrance (5ft. X 4ft. size),

 2. Three fire alarms on different floors,

 3. Special assistance for  differently - abled users  by the supporting       staff.

A) Books, back volumes and thesis 1, 20,782

 1. Text book collections 1,00,119

 2.  Reference books 14,663

 3.  Back volumes 6,000 

B) Non-Print (Microfiche, AV) 2,513

C) Electronic (e-books, e-Journals) 1,02,600

D) Special Collections:

(i)   Palm leaves (5 in number) are available and one set of palm leaves entitled ‘Sarawathi Sahaasra Nama’ displayed in a glass box at the main entrance for students’ sake;

(ii)   CD’s of National Geographic 110 Years’ collection;

(iii) CD’s of Census, data of all Districts with Mandal-level data;

(iv) Books on Paintings, Art and World Famous Museum’s collections;

(v)  Atlas Collections, Oxford Special Dictionary – 02 Vol.’s, etc.

OPAC: 

The College web-site facilitates a link to access the Library. Details of documents are available with accession numbers so that users can approach the issue counter with the help of accession number and get it issued.

NEWGENLIB :

 Our Library is automated with NEWGENLIB software and all the Library activities  will be done through the  Library soft-ware . for both e-resource management and for hard copy of the journals. 

Federated searching tools to search articles in multiple databases:

 GDLC· (Galileo Integrated Digital Learning Center) appliance is used for digital information search in the e-Learning center of the library. This GDLC can be accessed with 108 different gadgets.

Library Website:  In the College website, a link is provided and in addition to that the Library blog  www.andhraloyolalibrary1.blogspot.in is also active and   periodically updated.

 In-house/remote access to e-publications:   A separate A/c. hall for e-Learning center with Wi-Fi around the library with a radius of 10 meters has Provided.

 Special services provided by the library:

Manuscripts: Available in reference section  Reference: More than 14,663 books/Volume Collections.

Reprography: Canon Automated* & two-side auto reversible Xerox cum Printer at UG and Xerox Machine at PG library and 3 normal printers are also available for users.

ILL (Inter Library Loan Service): Delnet, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Krishna University, AIRC (American Information & Resource Center) and with other 4 college libraries. Many books borrowed from Planning Commission Library and returned safely through DELNET – ILL facility. Research articles are received from AIRC, Chennai. These facilitate our users with latest developments across the globe and additional added service for Research & Development. 

Information Deployment and Notification: From UGC-Nlist, NKRC & other sources, we receive information and the same is notified to our users for students’ career development and other purposes. 

Internet Access: For students: 4 hours & for staff: 5 hours. Students can avail this facility  for their project work and  to store information in their mails.

Downloads: Facility is provided in e-Learning Centre with 56 systems in both PG & UG Libraries. 

Printouts: 4 printers are available for students  & staff to print old question papers of our college examinations and also University PG entrance examinations. Both soft and hard copies are made available for some special & important examinations like J AM and different entrance tests.

 Reading list/Bibliography compilation: Reading lists are available for some special areas to encourage students. Book lists on Personality development, Volume Collections, special Collections, etc., are available and displayed. 

In-house/remote access to e-resources:  Wi-Fi facility is available and can be accessed with most gadgets and all the stack areas are connected. The entire library is in LAN (Local Area Network). 

User Orientation: Banners are displayed on different areas for  students’ information.  During lunch break, Librarian is always available for interaction and counseling with students.  

Assistance in searching Databases: Librarian & a Technician are available for assistance and individual password & ID are provided to search different e-services.

INFLIBNET/IUC facilities: 

360 registered users do utilize INFLIBNET and IUC facilities regularly.

  Additional Book Issue Facility: Some special students (those who are preparing for JAM, CSIR-NET, etc.) and regular general book readers are provided with additional books including Reference Collections.

Library Exhibitions: Regular annual exhibition is conducted during* National Book Week time i.e. 14-20 November, every year and Special collections are also exhibited along with college annual exhibition time. 

Online Old Question paper service: Before examinations all the old question papers are made available in e-Learning centre and the same are copied and attached to students emails to save paper as an environmental friendly care.

Book Bank Facility: Every year on an average 45 to 55 economically backward and deserving students are given book bank facility.

CONFERENCES & OTHER EVENTS :

2011-12    Organized Indian Association of Special Library and Information Centers’ One-Day Workshop for South Zone on 14, August.

2012-13 Organized UGC-Sponsored two-Day National Conference on 17-18, November and Conference Volume released with ISBN. 72 papers and 108 participants both local & non-local (from 7 States) presented papers.

2013-14    Established Endowment / Memorial Lecture (Worth 7 lakhs in FD) on 3rd February in loving memory of Rev. Fr. D. Gordon, the second Principal of the College.

2014-15 Two Invited Talks and Six Book Reviews organized & continuing till date as monthly activity.

2015-16 Organized National Library, ( Under MHRD ),Kolkata, 

Sponsored two-Day National Conference on 17-18, November 

and Conference Volume released  on D. B. ACT, 1954.  (Annual 

Activity from 2012, on the Birth Anniversary of Fr.Douglas Gordon SJ