Donald E. Stokes Library at Princeton University is the primary point-of-contact for Library Services for the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), the Department of Sociology, and the Office of Population Research (OPR). The Stokes Library is utilized by social science researchers and students from across Princeton, and is open to all, including visitors. The Library is named for Professor Donald E. Stokes ‘51 who was an American policy scholar and served as Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. The Stokes Library collection includes the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Reserves collection and the Ansley J. Coale Population Research collection.
Stokes Library is just one among several branch libraries at Princeton University Library. Although we have a special relationship supporting SPIA, Stokes is open to all students, staff and faculty, irrespective of their discipline. My colleagues and I provide instruction, research and data consultations, data workshops, and collection development in the areas of public policy, international affairs, population research, sociology, education, and other related social science disciplines. Stokes Library is also the site of Princeton’s Data Viz Hub, a suite of services, technologies, and expertise to support qualitative and quantitative data analysis in the social sciences.
World-Class Collections
Princeton University Library provides access to a remarkable array of electronic and print collections including over 2000 specialized databases, more than 20 million books, and almost 1 million journals. Princeton is also part of the phenomenal “Borrow Direct” partnership with all of the Ivy universities. So, in addition to our own extensive book collection, Princeton students also have access to print books from several of the world’s largest library collections.
Information Experts
The librarians at Stokes Library possess advanced training in the ability to find relevant ideas, facts and data in an increasingly fragmented information environment filled with untruths and misinformation. Our goal is to support students in the quest to find the best available evidence to understand policy problems and develop solutions. We achieve this via individual research consultations with the Stokes librarians, and also engage in instruction via the popular Stokes Viz Hub workshop series, and in-class presentations. Additionally, the Stokes Data Consultants can help students with data analysis and methodology questions.
Inspirational Spaces
SPIA students have access to a large array of spaces across several branch libraries including Stokes Library in Wallace Hall, the Lewis Science Library, Firestone Library, the Mendel Music Library, and the East Asian Studies Library in Frist Student Center. Each location creates a unique environment with a variety of amenities including group study spaces, quiet study carrels, technologically-enriched visualization spaces, and even a Makerspace. At Stokes, students can choose from the serene, quiet of the large study tables located next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, or utilize the large monitors with laptop connections in the alcove area. For group work, Stokes offers two group study rooms, as well as a reservable classroom with laptops, whiteboard walls, and a projector. The classroom is flexible so you can rearrange the space to meet a variety of teaching and learning needs- even virtual reality!
We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to support the graduate students at SPIA. If you need anything at all from the library please feel free to contact me or any of the Stokes library team.