The University was established as a state teacher's college in 1883. Named for President Emeritus, Dr. Houston Cole, the Houston Cole Library was built in 1972. The facility is a thirteen-story, red granite building divided into eight micro-libraries. Floors two through seven and nine through ten are divided into public subject areas and are managed by subject specialist librarians. Each public service librarian is responsible for collection maintenance and development, supervision of student employees, liaison activities, and instruction. The Library is staffed with fourteen professional and nineteen paraprofessional employees.

The Library's collection consists of more than 600,000 titles. Many electronic databases are available to provide access to the library's collections and other sources. In addition to numerous public computer workstations, students have access to a computer lab housed on the tenth floor. Other services within the Library are interlibrary loan, self-service photocopying, conference rooms, and AV services.

Mailing Address:

Houston Cole Library
Jacksonville State University
700 Pelham Rd. North
Jacksonville, Alabama, USA
36265-1602
Telephone: (256) 782-5255
Fax: (256) 782-5872

Materials collected by HCL can be located through the Library Catalog.