One of the many pivotal (and wonderful) roles the Libraries fill is providing access to resources and materials that elevate research, spark new knowledge, and deepen understanding of our world - as it was and how it might be. Our part in the teaching, learning, and research experience enriches Dartmouth's liberal arts experience: the interdisciplinary exploration of the arts, sciences, and humanities. The result is often a lifelong love of learning in pursuit of curiosities, inspiration, and new discoveries.

We love it when curiosity and the delights of lifelong learning bring people to our Libraries, whether it's while studying at Dartmouth or 37 years after graduating. For Provost David Kotz '86 who graduated with a computer science and physics degree, that holds true. In 2023, he walked in explorer Ernest Shackleton’s steps, descending into Stromness just as Shackleton and two crew mates had a century earlier. Following that adventure, Kotz learned that Dartmouth Libraries Special Collections is home to the Thomas Orde-Lees diary - a surviving member of Shackleton's expedition, which Kotz had read about in 2014. With a fellow “Shackleton fan” colleague, Kotz spent a “delightful hour turning the pages of [Orde-Lees'] 400-page diary” at Rauner Library. 

See What The Provost Discovered