
On the Bloomington campus, the Herman B Wells Library, with its double towers of Indiana limestone, is the visual center of the multi-library system and primarily supports the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. More than 4.6 million volumes are contained in this building. Especially noteworthy are the collections that support IU’s international and area studies, including interdisciplinary research collections developed in the areas of African Studies, Russian and East European Studies, Uralic and Altaic Studies, East Asian Studies, and West European Studies.
In addition to departments responsible for public service points (Government Information, Maps & Microform Services, Media Services, and Scholars' Commons), Wells Library also houses Library Administration, Business Affairs & Facilities, Collection Development, Digital Collections Services, Research & Learning Services, Libraries Human Resources, Library Technologies, Moving Image Collections and Archives, and Technical Services.
Specially designed student and researcher spaces in the Wells Library include the Learning Commons, Scholars' Commons and Grad Commons.
For a list of spaces and Partner Units in the East and West Towers of the library, see the Wells Library Building & Collections Directory.