Comprised of 20+ libraries, the University of Illinois Library System is the largest system of its kind at the public university. While SRL scholars may deem it necessary to branch out to multiple libraries across campus, most participants will likely concentrate their efforts at the Main Library, the International and Area Studies Library, the Oak Street Library, and the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library. What follows are a series of short introductions to these branches of the library system, along with helpful links to the websites of these branches. 

• Main Library: The most identifiable of all the libraries on the UIUC campus, the Main Library (located at 1408 W. Gregory Dr. in Urbana), acts as the central hub for multiple libraries (see the IAS Library below), collections, and specialized library services on campus. Chief among these is the Main Stacks, which houses approximately five million items across multiple disciplines and media types. Additional services include access to the Scholarly Commons and study rooms on the first and second floors, as well as the Reading Room housed within the Literature and Languages Library. Through their status as LH Courtesy Card holders (see below), SRL participants who present their courtesy card will be able to access the Main Stacks through the duration of the lab. 
• International and Area Studies Library: The International and Area Studies (IAS) Library is located in Room 321 on the third floor of the Main Library. Constituted in 2011, the library acts as the on-campus home for services and collection related to African Studies; East Asian Studies; European Union Studies; Global Studies; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Middle East and North African Studies; Russian East European, and Eurasian Studies; and South Asian Studies. For many SRL scholars, the IAS Library will likely act as a "home base" of sorts throughout the duration of the lab. 
• Oak Street Library: The Oak Street Library (located at 809 S. Oak St. in Champaign) is home to the Oak Street High Density Storage facility, which provides climate controlled storage for approximately four million items, many of which have low circulation histories. Although Oak Street does provide patrons with access to circulation features and a traditional reading room environment, SRL scholars will likely be interacting with this branch of the library system through catalog requests rather than on-site visits. 
• History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library: The History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library (HPN) and African American Research Center (both located in Room 246 on the second floor of the Main Library) provides researchers access to multiple collection of original print newspapers and digitized historical newspapers, along with a robust collection of monographs in the above cited disciplines. HPNL also holds the majority of the UI Library System's microfilm collection (approximately 250,000 reels) on site and in the Main Stacks. 

For the purposes of the Summer Research Laboratory, participants are considered "LH Courtesy Card Users," which entitles holders to bookstacks access, online catalog requesting privileges, and a maximum check-out limit of one hundred items. For more information on Visitor and Affiliate borrowing privileges, please visit the courtesy card eligibility page on the Main Library's website; for more information on using the online catalog and requesting items from the various branches of the library system, please consult the "Using the Library Catalog" guide prepared by the University Library system. 

In the featured PDF above, you'll find some of the highlights from our collection, which includes extensive holdings of print materials, digital collections, and microforms. Here are brief descriptions of a select few.

Jewish Theater Under Stalinism (History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library, call number FILM 792.094731 J556) - This microfilm collection includes the archives of the Moscow State Jewish Theater and the archive of the Theatrical School of the State Jewish Theater. It is based on the holdings of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts. It contains materials that describe the history of the Jewish theater and Jewish avant-garde art in the Soviet Union and the Kremlin’s policy toward Jewish society and culture from 1916 until the early 1950s. This microfilm collection contains unique archival materials such as correspondence with ministries, state organizations, manuscripts/drafts, texts of plays, notes (with comments of censors), directors’ notes and personal archives of literary figures.

The GULAG Press, 1920-1937 (Slavic, call number MFICHE 077 G95) - The contents of the GULAG Press consist of news bulletins, posters, literary journals, albums and booklets, and other miscellanea. Efforts to compile the GULAG press in its entirety started to come to fruition in the late 1990s when the Soviet Union's collapse allowed for greater access to archives. The primary purpose of much of these materials was to propagandize, yet much historical and cultural value can nonetheless be gleaned from them.

Polish Independent Publications (IAS, call number MFICHE 943.805 P7594) - This collection is based on holdings found in Radio Free Europe in Munich, and the Polish Library POSK in London. The contents offer up a wide range of opposition and dissident periodicals up to 1988, when many oppositional publications started to appear more openly. The earliest documents in the collection date from the 1970s and mostly pertain to K.O.R., the Committee for the Defense of the Workers. The documents also highlight the legal existence of the trade union Solidarność, as well as the period of martial law. Aside from periodicals and other serials, the collection also includes many other kinds of documents, such as bulletins and leaflets from various branches of Solidarność, academic and student groups, peasant organizations, clandestine political parties, as well as religious and cultural groups. Émigré journals are not included.