Request From ALF
Some items in the IUB Libraries' collections are housed in a collections vault at the Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility (ALF). Users may request these materials to be delivered to any IU campus library.
Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility
The Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility (ALF) is a modern and secure climate-controlled book and object repository. The facility name honors Ruth Lilly, a philanthropist whose $1 million gift helped make the facility a reality in 2002. Her father Josiah K. Lilly Jr. gifted his rare book and manuscript collection to IU in 1954, inspiring the construction of the prestigious Lilly Library.
The facility also includes the state-of-the-art E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory, book freezers (to assist with treatment of water-damaged materials), space for accessioning, lending, and staff, as well as a secure collections vault with a capacity of approximately 6,400,000 bound volumes. The climate-controlled collections vault also includes a distinct film storage area with a special fire suppression system for film materials.