Quick Facts

8:15 am - 5:50 pm Monday - Friday
(MD Reading Room closes at 3:15 on Fridays)

The Katz Library Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Katz Library to support the academic and extracurricular programs by providing a wide range of both print and online resources. With varying emphasis relevant to students’ ages, the goals of the library are:

1. To develop a life-long love of reading and foster a heightened imagination

2. To promote good citizenship and a pronounced sense of civility

3. To inculcate a spirit of independent learning and a self-confidence that will serve students beyond their years at Horace Mann.

Circulation

Books circulate for a period of three weeks; audio books circulate for a period of two weeks; audiovisual materials circulate for three nights or for a weekend. Special arrangements may be made for books on reserve and reference books. Current issues of magazines and journals remain in the library; past issues circulate overnight or over the weekend. We encourage renewal of materials needed for longer periods of time. Please return all materials on time so that they can be used by others who need them.

Charges for Lost Materials

Charges for lost materials are calculated on the basis of replacement cost for those materials. NOTE: Library materials must be returned or paid for before seniors may graduate.

Computer Use

Students are encouraged to go online to find educational resources and to do research for homework assignments. Students may use the library’s computers and laptops for recreational use, but must surrender a computer to another student needing to do schoolwork. To use any computer at the school, including the library’s, you must have an active network account and password, which may be obtained from the Technology Department.

Behavior

Because the library is a major hub of the Upper Division, there are various spaces within the library to meet the needs of all students. For students who want a more social place to study, the first floor of the library allows for talking and working together in comfortable seating or at study carrels. The second floor of the library is for quiet, independent study and both students and faculty gravitate to this area if they need silence in order to work; we also have noise-canceling headphones that can be checked out. Dotted throughout the first and second floors of the library are group study spaces, including a Senior Study Lounge. These spaces generally have white boards and tables so that students may work together on projects. Rules for each study room are posted in the spaces. No music is allowed anywhere in the library except for with headphones, which can be checked out, or during the fifteen-minute break between B and C periods. Excessively loud talking or inappropriate behavior may result in expulsion from the library. Repeated problems with behavior may result in an extended expulsion to be determined with your grade dean.

Group Study Rooms

There are seven group study spaces located on both floors of the library. The group study rooms provide students with a place where they can study together in a group. Although students may talk here, excessive loudness may result in expulsion from the library. All other rules for library behavior must be observed.

The library welcomes donations but reserves the right to accept gifts for the collection or to donate them to the parent sponsored Book Fair.

Horace Mann Alumni/ae Collections

The Horace Mann School has many distinguished alumni/ae who have published professional writing. The school attempts to obtain at least one or more copies of books by our graduates. Where appropriate, circulation copies are integrated into the main collection and are designated with ALUM in the call numbers. Recently archived copies are displayed in a case in the Katz Library. Older titles are displayed in Olshan Lobby.

Henry Geldzahler Collection

Henry Geldzahler (HM '53) willed his collection of books to the Katz Library. Mr. Geldzahler was the first curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Twentieth Century Art. His generous donation has strengthened our modern art book collection.

Textbooks

For students' convenience, the library provides at least one copy of most textbooks used in classes. Students may use these textbooks in the library or take them to class or overnight with permission. Textbooks are checked out to students at the circulation desk and must be returned to the desk when a student is done with the book.

Equipment

Laptops, laptop chargers, headphones, and calculators are available for students to check out at the circulation desk and must be returned to the desk. This equipment may be loaned overnight with permission from a librarian. Phone chargers are also available to check out and may always be kept overnight. In addition we have charging stations for both phones and laptops within the library that students may use.

The Horace Mann Archives collect, preserve, exhibit, and provide access to and research assistance for historic materials relating to Horace Mann School and its antecedents as well as people who are or have been members of the Horace Mann community. The Archives are located on the basement level of Tillinghast Hall and are open to the Horace Mann community on a daily basis (M/W/F 8:30 am - 12:.00 pm; Tu/Th 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm) and additionally by appointment. The Horace Mann Archives have three collections: The Horace Mann School Papers (all materials relating to Horace Mann School and its antecedents); The Alvin M. Josephy, HM ‘32 Autograph Collection; and The Horace Mann Collection (a small assemblage of original and replica materials relating to the educator). The Archives produce exhibits on various aspects of the school’s history on a monthly basis. Digital back copies of the student yearbook, The Mannikin, and newspaper, The Record, will soon be available to current members of the Horace Mann community via our archives webpage (archives.horacemann.org).