The Doris and Harry Vise Library
Faculty and Staff
Jessica Fenn, B.S., M.S.I.S.
Rebecca Murphy, B.A., M.L.S.
Stephen Spann, B.S., J.D., M.S.I.S
Davia Sullivan, B.A.
The Dorris and Harry Vise Library, established in 1989, relocating and expanding upon its predecessor, the University's Mitchell Library. Vise Library's current operating hours are Sunday, 5-9 pm; Monday-Thursday, 7:30 am-11 pm, and Friday, 7:30 am-4:30 pm. The Library's online resources, available around the clock, can be accessed at https://library.cumberland.edu/home.
Vise Library's focus is on serving Cumberland University students, faculty, and staff. Visitors are welcome and may use most of the Library's resources in-house. Wilson County residents may sign up for Community Special Privileges, a Vise Library program providing residents the opportunity to check out library materials.
The Doris and Harry Vise Library Mission Statement
The mission of the Vise Library is to provide a welcoming environment in which Cumberland University students, faculty, and staff are assured they can obtain the information resources and services they need for education, career, and personal growth.
By cultivating a diverse collection of print and electronic resources that are credible, scholarly, fundamental, and current, and utilizing partnership with other libraries to obtain materials not in our collection, we will facilitate research at all levels. By providing an inviting space with attributes conducive to individual and collaborative study, as well as to hosting visitors from communities beyond the University, the library will serve a unique and essential role in Cumberland University's overall mission.
Online Reference
Cumberland University students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to contact library staff by phone (615-547-1299), or email (library@cumberland.edu) with any questions that arise when working away from the library.
Books
Vise Library’s collection includes more than 20,000 print books and roughly 58,000 e-books, which students, faculty, and staff can access 24 hours a day from any Internet location. Patrons can access the library’s online catalog at
https://cumberland.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default to identify and locate both physical and digital materials.
Periodicals
Vise Library offers 160+ databases that provide access to both full-text articles and citations for many other articles from thousands of professional and popular publications. Students, faculty, & staff can use these databases 24 hours per day from any Internet location.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Books, articles, and DVDs not already in Vise Library’s collection may be obtained through interlibrary loan. Vise Library participates in TennShare, a Tennessee Library Consortium, and in OCLC’s WorldShare Interlibrary Loan service; these interlibrary loan programs allow the library to borrow material from other local, regional, national, and international libraries. Library staff can assist patrons in requesting ILLs; requests may also be initiated at
https://library.cumberland.edu/student-services/ill.
Multi-media
Vise Library houses a large collection of 1,800+ DVDs on topics pertaining to the university’s curriculum and for entertainment. The library also subscribes to Kanopy, a streaming film database that includes documentaries, indie and foreign films, classics, and blockbuster movies.
Proctor-Free Testing
Students may reserve library computers for exams that require Proctor-Free software. Reservations may be made in person at the front desk, by email (library@cumberland.edu), or by phone (615-547-1299).
Computer Resources
The Library has 45 computer workstations (22 within its Online Classroom) available for accessing its electronic databases, Microsoft Office, email, CANVAS, CAMS, and the Internet.
Course Reserves
Textbooks and supplementary texts for the semester’s courses can often be found in Vise Library’s Course Reserves. Because multiple students may desire access to items in Course Reserves, these items must be used while in the library. In the event that more than one student asks to use a Reserve text at the same time, use of Course Reserve items is limited to three hours at a time; if no other students are waiting to use a material, this time can be extended.
Study Rooms
Vise Library has several rooms that can be reserved for individual or group study or meetings. Due to popular demand for these spaces, reservations are limited to three hours at a time, after which the reservation can be renewed if no one else is waiting to use the room. Reservations may be made at the front desk, by phone, or by email.
Delivery of Material by Mail
Students enrolled in distance education and online courses who live outside of Wilson and its surrounding counties (Davidson, Rutherford, Cannon, DeKalb, Smith, Trousdale, and Sumner) may request that library books, journal articles, and other materials be mailed to them for use.
Special Collections
Bert H. Coble Choral Music Collection
The Bert H. Coble Choral Music Collection consists of 437 choral music pieces. Dr. H. Bert Coble (1923-2017), decorated veteran of WWII and the Korean War, minister of music for churches in Texas and Tennessee, came to Cumberland University with his wife Mrs. Sue B. Coble, also a music educator, in 1972. Dr. Coble served as Chair of the Music Department and Director of Choral Activities for CU, roles which included leading his Cumberland Singers on numerous college and high school tours.
George W. Franz Historical Research Collection
The George W. Franz Historical Research Collection of almost 2,000 volumes represents a great depth and breadth of resources in early American history. Biographies and personal papers of prominent individuals, examinations of colonial life in urban and agricultural settings, and in-depth exploration of the birth of American political parties, including especially the impact of Martin Van Buren, eighth President of the United States, together offer students a wealth of research materials on this foundational period. Dr. Franz served Pennsylvania State University for three decades. In addition to his role as a faculty member, Franz acted as a PSU administrator in various capacities: he was Director of Academic Affairs at the Brandywine campus for ten years and served as Interim Chancellor for that campus 2013-14. Dr. Franz was instrumental in directing the Papers of Martin Van Buren project at Penn State Brandywine. He began on the project as Associate Editor (1975-76), then oversaw completion of the project as Editor (1976-1986) and Project Director (1976-1988). Under his leadership, the project produced 55 microfilm reels containing approximately 13,000 documents from over 260 different repositories. Dr. Franz served (2015-2020) on the advisory board of the Papers of Martin Van Buren at Cumberland University, which is producing print and digital editions of the Van Buren’s papers. Dr. Franz intended that his donation of books to Cumberland University would assist with this project in addition to amplifying the resources available to Cumberland’s students in their own historical research.
James V. Miller Native American Collection
The James V. Miller Native American Collection consists of 168 books collected by Lebanon native James Victor Miller (1939-2008). Mr. Miller co-authored with Dr. Kevin E. Smith of Middle Tennessee State University one of the books in the collection: "Speaking with the Ancestors: Mississippi Stone Statues of the Tennessee Cumberland Region" (2009). Mr. Miller’s obituary succinctly traced his deep and long-standing historical interests: “His early interest in the Civil War, by the time of the first grade, and his curiosity about the first residents of the area, American Indians, matured quickly into scholastic endeavors and led to [a 30-year] history teaching career [at Lebanon High School] and later contributions as a noted lecturer and writer. He was an authority on local history, Middle Tennessee Indian cultures and the battles of the Civil War.”
Lebanon Democrat
When the publisher of the Lebanon Democrat newspaper relocated in 2020, they entrusted Vise Library with the preservation of the bound volumes of past issues (1987 – 2020) that had been stored in their former office building. This print collection enhances our ongoing collection of microfilmed copies of the Lebanon Democrat (1843 – present*), Lebanon Wilson World (1980 – 2004), Lebanon Wilson Post (2005 – present*), and Mt. Juliet News (2013 – present*). (*Vise Library receives the microfilmed copies, produced by the Tennessee State Library & Archives, typically 1 – 2 years after an issue’s original publication).
Military History Collection
The Military History Collection began with a generous donation from Nashville’s Battery Press in 2016 and has continued to grow with the addition of books addressing multiple aspects of military history, ranging from individuals to units, from battles to wars, from equipment to memorials, from historiography to military doctrine, and more.
Stockton Archives
Vise Library houses the University’s Stockton Archives, which is dedicated to preserving university-related records in all formats and other memorabilia of Cumberland University’s long history. The Archives also holds a collection of old and rare books, including an original edition of the War of the Rebellion series.
Tennessee Collection
Vise Library’s Tennessee Collection consists of books and other materials that document local, regional, and state culture and history. Tennessee and Cumberland University authors’ works are also gathered here.