The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library is named for Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who graduated from Andover in 1825 and became a doctor and poet. (Those of you who tend to get your Oliver Wendell Holmeses mixed up should know that the Andover graduate is the FATHER of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., the Supreme Court Justice. When you enter the building, if you need a computer or the World Wide Web, you head downstairs to the computer center. If, on the other hand, you are in a leather-wing-chair and green-lamp-shade sort of mood, you walk straight to the stacks or the Garver Room and curl up with a book.

Q: How many volumes in the library?

A: 120,000

Q: What, given the Internet's access to search engines and library databases worldwide, is the current definition of a "volume"?

A: A book. The library also has subscriptions to about 250 periodicals and great historic resources such as the New York Times on microfilm from the first issue in 1851 and presidential papers of all the presidents. Besides fabulous Internet research resources, the library has a terrific video collection for loan.