Mallet Chemistry Library Adds 100,000th Volume

AUSTIN, Texas — The Mallet Chemistry Library at the University of Texas at Austin has reached a milestone with the addition of the 100,000^th volume to its physical collections. 

The book, Advanced membrane science and technology for sustainable energy and environmental applications (Woodhead Publishing, 2011), was purchased with funds from the James E. and Ruth Ann Boggs Chemistry Library Endowment. 

The Chemistry Library was founded in 1883 — the same year as the University — and was one of the top priorities of the university’s first faculty chairman, John W. Mallet, for whom the library was later named. 

The library has evolved in tandem with the university, with collections numbering a mere 3,000 volumes in 1900, but increasing to over 75,000 by the turn of the millennium. The library’s resources have served over 5.4 million patrons since 1980, including the faculty, researchers and undergraduate and graduate students of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The physical collections are supported by library access to the electronic resources of the University of Texas Libraries. Students and researchers downloaded nearly 450,000 full text articles from electronic chemistry journals in 2011.