Whether you’re a new student or a returning faculty member, we at UVA Library are ready to help you make the most of your Fall 2025 semester. The Library has everything to help you succeed — books, comfortable study spaces, locations all over Grounds, and staff who are ready to help with research, teaching, publishing, and more.
Check out this overview of the UVA Library system and its offerings. We hope you’ll visit one of our six locations soon — see more about that below!
Library spaces
The UVA Library has six locations, each with different subject specialties:
- Charles L. Brown Science & Engineering Library: Located in Clark Hall, Brown Library has reservable spaces for collaborative study. It also houses specialized research support — including Research Data Services. Don’t miss the stunning murals in the library’s atrium!
- Clemons Library: Popular with students for abundant study space and media-related materials, Clemons is one of the busiest libraries on Grounds. Its Robertson Media Center provides cutting-edge technology in virtual reality, 3D printing, audiovideo spaces, and support for media creation of every kind. Connected to Shannon Library through a tunnel on the second floor.
- Fine Arts Library: The Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library holds collections for architecture, art history, archaeology, and the classics department. Its R Lab, a space dedicated to collaborative work, has special reservation options to accommodate faculty.
- Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library: The Harrison/Small building houses the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library and exhibition space on the ground and lower floors. Later this fall, look for “ABCs of the UVA Library” in the Main Gallery.
- Music Library: The Music Library has one of the most significant music collections in the southeastern United States. Study spaces include the large, unique main floor, as well as study carrels on the lower level. It is the only Library location on UVA’s Lawn.
- The Edgar Shannon Library: UVA’s largest library building, Shannon (together with Clemons), holds the social sciences and humanities collections and offers an open layout, natural light, and more than 1,400 seats for research and study. The McGregor (“Harry Potter”) Room is located on the second floor, as is a connector tunnel that takes you directly to Clemons Library. Shannon also houses the Scholars' Lab Makerspace, which is open to all members of the UVA population, and a large lounge and kitchenette exclusively for graduate students.
Library locations are open late! We’re not able to keep Clemons open 24h this semester, but Brown, Clemons, and Shannon are all open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday during the semester. Fine Arts and Music are open until 11 p.m. on those days.
- Check hours before visiting … many locations expand their offerings around the end of the semester!
Curious to look around? Interactive online maps let you explore Library locations from your computer or your phone.
Access to Materials
The best way to find books, articles, movies, and much more — for class or for fun — is by searching Virgo, the Library catalog. There are millions of items in Virgo that you can find in the Library’s stacks, read right from your computer screen, or request from our offsite shelving location with the click of a button.
Equipment and technology
The Library provides access (always free!) to a wide range of equipment and technology — from sewing machines to virtual reality — and offers lots of learning opportunities to expand your skills.
At the Library you’ll find ...
- Clemons and Brown have equipment available for loan, including bicycle pumps, Mac and PC laptop chargers, USB drives, and flatbed scanners.
- The third floor of Clemons houses the Robertson Media Center, where you can learn about 3D printing and use audio and video equipment like cameras, microphones, lighting kits, and specialty software.
- The third floor of Shannon Library holds the Scholars’ Lab Makerspace, where experts can help with digital humanities and maker projects.
- For rare and unique materials, come to the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library to request rare and unique materials. Request materials before arriving and they’ll be waiting for you in the Reading Room.
- Looking broader? Any material not owned by the UVA Library can be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan — articles, books, dissertations, government documents, technical reports, patents, microforms, and in some cases video and sound recordings.
- Still not finding what you need? Make a purchase recommendation.
- For delivery: Grad students and faculty can use LEO delivery to have research materials brought to your departmental office or a preferred pick-up library.
- Graduate students can reserve shelving or study carrels for personal use in Fine Arts, Music, and Shannon locations.
Learn more about equipment and technology at the Library.
Getting Help
Here are three ways to make your life at UVA easier:
- The Ask a Librarian service is available seven days a week — you can use web chat, call, text, or email. No question is too large or too small!
- In Canvas, look for the UVA Library Portal in your course navigation menu. Resources vary per course and your portals are designed to help you complete your assignments.
- Feeling lost, or have questions you want to talk through? Schedule an appointment for one-on-one Library help, and a librarian will help connect you to whatever you may need.
Subject-specific help:
- For any academic subject: Library Subject Liaisons are specialists who can answer questions about certain areas of study, like anthropology, architecture, biology, computer science, drama, English, engineering, and much more. See a full list of liaison librarians.
- For statistics and data: StatLab provides free statistics consulting: drop in to Brown Science & Engineering Library during office hours.
- For digital or maker projects: The Digital Humanities Center, home to the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities and Scholars' Lab, can help with a broad range of projects. Visit the third floor of Shannon Library to seek mentoring, consultations, collaboration, and more. The Robertson Media Center in Clemons can help with many types of audio/video work.
- Looking for the best place to store your research data? The new UVA Data Storage Finder makes it easy to find storage solutions tailored to your project’s needs. The tool brings together all research data storage services available on Grounds and lets you dynamically filter them based on your specific requirements.
Sustainable publishing and writing support:
- Support for publishing: The UVA Library is committed to supporting the broad, diverse needs of our community of scholars, teachers, and learners, and to doing so sustainably. Learn more about the Library’s support for writing and publishing.
- UVA’s open access press: Aperio is the University’s Open Access scholarly press — a peer-reviewed location for journals, monographs, textbooks, and open educational resources. The Library also promotes and offers Pressbooks, online software that enables authors and publishers to design and format online educational resources for the public.
- Open access institutional repository: Libra is the online archive of scholarship created at UVA. It provides a central, stable location for the scholarly output (journal articles, datasets, theses/dissertations, etc.) of the University community.
In the classroom (for instructors):
- Request a Library class or Special Collections instruction to help your students learn how to use the Library.
- In Canvas: The UVA Library Portal is a default feature in all Canvas courses and is located in your course navigation menu. This tool provides quick access to Library resources for teaching and assignments. Customization is offered at the school, department, program, or course level. Connect with your subject liaison librarian to learn more.