 It was the first joint-use library in Minnesota to house both an academic library and a public library, and is one of only seven such libraries in the United States.The Metropolitan State Library and Information Center encourages community use of resources at both libraries, and issues community cards for patrons who are not faculty, staff, or students at Metropolitan State University.As a part of their commitment to community engagement, Metropolitan State University founded ICES (Institute for Community and Engagement in Scholarship) in order to have a way to focus their outreach efforts.