Library resources at The John and Joan Monninger Center for Learning and Research include more than 151,000 book volumes, some 190 current newspapers and periodicals plus over 2,000 backfiles. The Center also holds over 1,400 DVDs and videos for classroom and individual use. Students and faculty on the Florham campus have easy access to materials from the Metropolitan Campus through intercampus loan. Materials will be delivered to Florham within a day or two. A user needing special library materials can access library holdings throughout the country using the interlibrary loan article and book request forms, as well as our University-wide online catalog.
The non-circulating print collections at the Center include the Douglas Lloyd Kahn Collection on the History of Photography and Film with some 3,200+ titles; and the smaller non-circulating collections of the Kushen Family Collection in Memory of Betty Kushen, Ph.D., including special editions of 19th- and 20th-century British women writers; Literature by Black Authors, in particular African American writers in first editions; the Florham-Madison campus and the Twombly estate collections; as well as the archives of Fairleigh Dickinson University founder Peter Sammartino; the New York Cultural Center (NYCC); and those of the College at Florham and its earlier title, the Florham/Madison Campus.
The Center primarily serves the University community, yet is open to other individuals engaged in research. Through cooperative arrangements with neighboring institutions (College of St. Elizabeth, Drew University, the public libraries of the area, Macculloch Hall Museum, the Morris County Library and special libraries within the county), books and other circulating materials may be shared.
The Monninger Center occupies the site of the greenhouses and orchard of the former Vanderbilt-Twombly estate. The large reading room at the front right of the building as you face it, the Orangerie, once held tropical plants and fruit trees, and is all that remains of the original greenhouse-orangerie complex. The Orangerie, designed by McKim, Mead and White, faces Hennessy Hall, the estate's original mansion, across a wide expanse of lawn which is part of the larger Frederick Law Olmsted-designed grounds.
The FDU Online Library provides access to 100+ subscription databases containing over 20,000 full-text journals, more than 115,000 e-books, and a streaming video collection. Most resources within the FDU Online Library are available 24/7, both on campus and remotely.
The FDU Digital Archives collection consists of unique items from the university's archives, and from distinctive collections developed in collaboration with non-library partners, related to both the history of Northern New Jersey and the University. Materials include master's theses, government documents, historical photographs and documents, digital artifacts, maps, and podcasts. This collection is continually growing as we work to preserve our University's heritage.
