An integral part of a Central student’s life is the Clifford E. Brown Library, located on the second floor of the main building. The library is utilized by the students for any number of things: a quiet study room, a place to get help from teachers, or a place to print out papers mere minutes from the due date. However, there is a lot more to the library than just the actual room, and there’s more in that room than many Central students know.

One of the main resources of the library is the online databases, hosted on LibGuide, a website that consolidates resources. There are currently ten databases available for Central students to use, ranging in subject of focus from science to history. Students have probably used these databases while writing research papers, guided by Mrs. Shanahan, who educates classes on the functionality of the many databases to which the school has access. EBSCOhost is perhaps the widest-spanning collection, and many teachers have helped their students experience this resource while working on papers or reports.

Destiny, another online database available to students, is different from the others because it pulls from articles and books in the actual library––the other databases pull from online sources to find sufficient articles and books. The library houses many books, but Mrs. Shanahan says that the databases will get you more up-to-date resources if you are researching something current. This certainly does not mean that she thinks the selection collected in physical form in the library is insufficient, although she does admit to one thing it is lacking in: contemporary fiction (Editor’s Note: I agree).

The library’s physical selection is vast, with many physical books. Fiction is in the shorter stacks near the printer, while the nonfiction books are in the tall stacks in the back. Many books are available to students, to teach about history, literature, and a variety of other subjects. The fiction selection, while not filled with modern authors, has many classics, including Poe or Orwell. Bring the book you want to Mrs. Shanahan and she will sign it out for you.

The library and the online databases online are many resources available for students to use for free and Mrs. Shanahan visits the classrooms to teach students how to use them. If you are interested in exploring the different types of articles and books and other information the library offers, check out libguide.centralcatholichs.com.