The Daisaku and Kaneko Ikeda Library
The Daisaku and Kaneko Ikeda Library team of librarians and specialists are committed to fulfilling the Soka University of America (SUA) mission and supporting the SUA community in achieving their academic and professional goals. We provide prompt access to information according to the users’ needs, interests, and abilities while remaining flexible and open to new ways of serving the community. The Instruction Librarians help students to become effective, thoughtful, and critical researchers as they continue to develop their information literacy skills in an academic environment. Upon professor's request, the librarians teach research and information literacy skills related to course assignments. In addition to in-class instructions, individualized research consultations are welcome and available by appointment either in-person or on Zoom. To make an appointment with an Instruction Librarian, please complete this form. Students may also meet with the librarians via MS Teams online chat, walk-ins, emails, or phone calls. The library also offers subject and topic information guides and how-to instructions designed to support students in their studies and develop their research abilities. The library portal is a great place to start your research journey for class assignments.
Currently, our print book collection contains over 102,000 titles in English and in the four languages taught at SUA: Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish. The library also provides access to approximately 483,000 online books. Similarly, online periodicals (52,000) as well as streaming videos (90,000) and music files (69,000) are available to the community, in addition to our DVDs and CDs. Purchase requests and recommendations from SUA students, faculty, and staff are encouraged as we aim to meet the changing needs of the community. Students can suggest books or films for the library collection by completing this form.
In addition, being a member of a global network of libraries allows us to offer Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services to our community. We supply books, book chapters, journal and magazine articles, research and conference papers, theses and dissertations, music scores, and maps. Through this resource-sharing program, we can obtain specialized or rare materials that aren't part of our core collection. ILL allows access to out-of-print, hard-to-find English and foreign-language materials, as well as special collections or archives at other institutions. ILL is also a way for us to collaborate with all types of libraries worldwide in order to provide library users with the broadest possible access to information resources. Our library has been an active, contributive member in these reciprocal scholastic exchanges.
On each floor of the library, study desks and carrels are available for individual study. The group study rooms on the third floor, which are equipped with a TV, a DVD/Blu-ray/VHS player, and a whiteboard (supplies are available at the circulation desk), are open to students for collaborative work or film viewing. Reservations are not required but recommended and can be made using this form. Additionally, there are two study rooms open for student use at all times: the 24-Hour Study Room, located on the 2nd floor of the library, and Room 461 in the Ikeda building. The Grand Reading Room (GRR) #400 is open from 8 a.m. to midnight daily. The balcony across from the GRR is another popular spot where the amazing view of the canyon may motivate you to study, meet with your peers, or relax.
The librarians, as information specialists, work closely with event and program organizers on campus to support their goals by collecting and disseminating tailored information to enhance the participants’ learning experiences. Your suggestions and requests are always welcome and can be submitted via this online form or by visiting the library.
To keep everyone informed and engaged about what is happening in the library, a library newsletter is distributed bi-monthly. For more information about our services and events, you may view the library portal, About Us page, Facebook (Ikeda Library), and Instagram (@ikedalibrary).
The University Archives
The Soka University of America (SUA) Archives seek to intentionally preserve historically significant items, SUA’s legacy in the making, for the future. Our growing collections showcase the university’s development and vibrant student life on campus. We are looking to be both an actively collecting repository for the purpose of historical preservation, and a resource for the SUA community to engage with our rich history, seek items for research, and provide supplemental materials to the academic collections within the Ikeda library. Our information guide presents a variety of archived items currently accessible to the campus community. The SUA Archives have video and photo materials from early SUA history (1987 to 2021), and the digital media files from 2022 can be found at the university's Marketing and Communications department.
In addition to developing and maintaining the university archival repositories, the SUA Archives supports the university community through displays celebrating student life and showcasing SUA History. In the recent past, the SUA Archives’ students have been working on “Passion Projects” which intend to share the unique pieces of history they have learned while working in the archives. The “#OneSoka” exhibit, previously housed onsite at the library, for example, is one of the recent Passion Projects produced within the Archives. “#OneSoka” was a “choose-your-own-path” type of walk-through experience which allows audiences to learn more about the beginnings of SUA from its original location to where it sits now in Aliso Viejo. The inaugural "Graduating Class" display, created in tandem with the student archive assistants, celebrates the achievements of the graduating class while providing touchpoints around their time at SUA for reflective engagement.
We greatly appreciate donations from any members of the SUA community wanting to contribute materials to our growing collections. Please feel free to contact the SUA Archives for any inquiries.