Important Announcement
- Library Building Closure: The Mary & John Gray Library building will close at noon on May 16, 2025, for continued renovation. It will remain closed throughout the summer.
- Circulation Services for Summer 2025: A temporary Library Service Desk is now open in the old Student Health Center. For full details on services, hours, and location, please visit our Library Renovation Guide.
- Study Spaces: Need a quiet place to study? Find a list of alternative study locations on campus in our Study Spaces Guide.
- Computer Lab and Printing: The library's first-floor computer lab is relocating to the Setzer Student Center, rooms 271 and 273. The students may check out laptops for use in the 2nd-floor seating area.
- Library Walk-up IT Service Desk: The first-floor service desk will also move to Setzer Student Center, room 271 for the duration of the closure.
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Featured Collections
The JSTOR Collections
In order to promote and expand access to scholarly journal content, the Mary & John Gray Library has recently added the JSTOR Arts & Science IV Collection of online journal archives, thus adding access to an additional 109 journals, with dates of coverage ranging from 1852 to 2016, varying by journal.
The library has also acquired the digital archives for the IEEE periodicals for the following date ranges: 1884-1964, and 1995-2000.
Featured E-Resource
Films on Demand - Add Video Introductions to Playlists
The Video Introduction feature for playlists allows users to add a short intro video to any playlist they create. Educators can use this new tool to provide an overview or give context for the videos in the playlist. To learn more about this and other enhancements, please see On Demand - 2016 Platform Updates.
Featured Digital Collection
Digitized Lamar University Newspaper issues, beginning with The Redbird (1933) to The University Press (2005).
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Federal Depository Library Program
The Mary and John Gray Library is a selective depository for publications of the United States government and a full depository for publications of the State of Texas.
Give to the Library
You are invited to contribute to the Friends of the Library Endowment Fund. The Friends of the Mary and John Gray Library was originally established in 1983 under the direction of Maxine Johnston, who was the Library Director at that time. Membership dues from Friends and other gifts from many alumni and friends throughout the community funded this endowment. It was created as a permanent fund to provide continuing support for the Mary and John Gray Library and to permit purchases for services otherwise not possible under normal budget allocations.
To donate, please designate the library as the beneficiary.
The library is truly the heart of campus and your gift helps meet the needs of future students and faculty.
About
Lamar University's Mary and John Gray Library cultivates student learning, supports individual and collaborative scholarship and contributes to academic and professional achievement
Ground was broken on the library on September 17, 1973. Governor Dolph Briscoe and Congressman Jack Brooks, a Lamar graduate, were among the dignitaries present for the groundbreaking. The ceremony coincided with Lamar's Golden Anniversary Convocation, harkening back 50 years to the original establishment of South Park Junior College. The Lamar University Regents named the building after Mary and John Gray. The Chairman of the Board of Regents, Otho Plummer, declared that the regents "kept two goals in mind--that we would be expressing deserved appreciation for past services and that the name would be an inspiration for the future greatness of Lamar." The eight story structure, constructed as a visible monument for the campus, was officially dedicated on April 26, 1976.