Students Services at Coates Library

Circulation Desk

Unknown to most Trinity students, the Coates Library has a variety of student services. They range from technology to one on one help.

Normally, the only item that you can check out from a circulation desk is a book. At Trinity, books are available for checkout, but laptop computers and headphones are also available for a certain time period. Students can acquire keys to the study rooms at the circulation desk as well.  The students at the helpdesk are quite knowledgeable and can answer most questions that any student has. If they cannot answer it, they can find someone that can help you. The various librarians are always willing to help students.

Along with laptops, there are many computers located on the third and fourth floor for student use.  Printers and copy machines are available in the library for a small fee. They are located on all floors. If a student’s printer breaks down the morning that their paper is due, the library is the place to go. The CLT is located on the first floor of library. It consists of four labs: Studios@CLT, Digital Audio Lab, Media Presentation Lab, and Video Conference Center.  At the CLT, student cans use high-end Windows and Mac workstations, audio and digitizing capability, and a range of multimedia authoring and editing software.

The Special Collections area is available for all students to use. It is located on the second floor. There are many great and ancient resources accessible in one of the prettiest rooms on campus. On the third floor, students can visit the Writing Center. The workers at the Writing Center can help edit papers as well as give commentary on the writing. Research peer tutors are another great asset at the Writing Center. 

Writing Center by Laura Kalb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.


Circulation Desk by Laura Kalb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

History of the Trinity University Library

The Trinity University Library opened shortly after 1869 in Tehuacana, Texas. When the university moved to the Waxahachie campus in 1902, the library was placed on the fourth floor of the Administrative building. The books were placed in no particular order and there was not a cataloging system in use. In 1942, the library was relocated to San Antonio, the new home of Trinity University. Located on Stadium Hill, The George Storch Memorial became the new location for the library in 1949. This building became the main area for information on the humanities. Information on the sciences and special collections were contained in the Chapman Graduate Library which began in 1963. In 1971, the university decided that all of the libraries needed to be consolidated into one location. The Elizabeth Coates Library opened on March 20, 1979. It consisted of two floors. In 1983, another level of the library was completed. In 1997, the fourth and final level was completed.

The first librarian at Trinity University was Theresa Roberts Simms, wife of a Trinity professor. She began to arrange the books and offered help to students. When Trinity University merged with the University of San Antonio, their library collections were combined. Mrs. Simms, along with the help of students, recatalogued the entire library. Mrs. Simms was the only full time library worker until the end of 1946 when the library staff was expanded.


On the staircase from the third floor to fourth floor, there is a unique collage mural by James Sicner. He began the project on March 1, 1979. The mural was completed on September 30, 1983. It is fifteen feet by eighty feet which makes it the largest of its kind in the world.



When the library was first established, it had two hundred and fifty volumes. In 2006, there were over 927,000 volumes. The library has also expanded by adding digital media to its vast collection. Today, the library is large and undergoes expansion often. The history of the Trinity University library is definitely one of interest and is constantly being added to.

Elizabeth Coates Library by Laura Kalb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.