Morris Library

Library Affairs supports the educational, research, and service needs of the SIU Carbondale community. We improve the lives of everyone shaped by the SIU experience, providing access to the latest scholarly research and instructional materials as well as the environments, tools, and services that help students succeed. We offer undergraduate and graduate scholarships as well as meaningful employment opportunities for students. More broadly, we promote the use of Open Access materials by helping fund the Open Textbook Initiative.

Morris Library is a cornerstone of the excellent education SIU Carbondale provides – and we continue to evolve. With your support, we now offer the full range of tools that students will need to navigate the knowledge landscape that lies ahead. We help them interpret, understand, question, and create scholarly works in text, data, and audiovisual formats. Morris Library provides 24/7 access to research collections of international scope, along with the staff, technologies, and environments that lead to student success.

Giving to the Library Excellence Activities Fund allows Library Affairs – Morris Library, the SIU Archives, the Sharp Museum, and the SIU Press – to expand information access, to foster the productive use of library resources, and to maximize the library’s impact on students, faculty, and community members. We now offer free printing, and we plan to provide longer hours and greater technology support in the coming years. We also facilitate the creation of Open Educational Resources (free online textbooks) by faculty authors at SIU and elsewhere. By expanding our journal, book, video, and data collections, we are building infrastructure that will maximize the scholarly productivity of students, faculty, and alumni.

Donors may also support The SIU Black Archives Project which is a collaborative initiative launched in mid-2026 by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Black alumni, the SIU Foundation, and Morris Library’s Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) to document and preserve the history, achievements, and cultural contributions of Black Salukis.

An investment in Morris Library is an investment in Saluki student success. We are grateful for your generosity. Please see our funding priorities, below, and click Give Now at the top of the page or select the fund you'd like to support.