Whether you’re a new student or a returning faculty member, we at UVA Library are ready to help you make the most of the Fall 2026 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!
New and notable
- AI Literacy and Action Lab: A joint initiative of the Library and the College, the Lab is a structured, evidence-producing program, advancing critical, ethical, and practical AI literacy across disciplines and into the community. Read about pilot programs and submit your ideas.
- For instructors: Digital accessibility & Library materials - New guide to help make sure your course materials are accessible to every student.
- Library tools to harness AI for research:
- Consensus - Search tool for academic research. Consensus identifies academic research related to your research question, then it uses AI to synthesize an evidence-based summary of findings. Strongest in scientific and social science topics.
- LeapSpace - Designed to help researchers accelerate discovery, weigh the strength of available evidence, and sharpen critical thinking. Draws on deep well of peer-reviewed content from Elsevier and partners.
- ProQuest TDM Studio - Text and data mining tool that supports large text dataset analysis across multiple disciplines in ProQuest archives, newspapers, journals, dissertations, and more.
- We want to know: what happens to the way we perceive, learn, make, and think when we’re Away From Keyboard? That’s the inspiration for the Library’s 2026-2027 interdisciplinary arts initiative, which will explore intentional connections between body and mind. Join us for workshops, experiences, and conversations.
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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 or read right from your computer screen. Need a hand? Ask a Librarian can always help.
- Looking for more? 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.
- For rare and unique materials, come to the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. Request materials before arriving and they’ll be waiting for you in the Reading Room.
- Graduate students can reserve shelving or study carrels in Fine Arts, Music, and Shannon locations.
What’s new?
See the newest additions to the collection — books, databases, videos, and more.
Getting Help
Ask a Librarian is available every day of the 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.
For specialty help
- For all subjects: Subject Liaisons are specialists who can answer questions about certain areas of study. Each department and many interdisciplinary programs have a liaison who provides direct support to students and faculty and helps to shape Library collections and services.
- For statistics and data: Contact Research Data Services for help finding and using data and statistics. StatLab also provides free statistics consulting: drop in to Brown Science & Engineering Library during office hours. Learn more about StatLab.
- For digital or maker projects: The Digital Humanities Center can help with a broad range of digital, experimental, or pedagogical projects, and offers consultations for any stage of your work. 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.
In the classroom (for instructors)
Request a Library class or Special Collections instruction to help your students learn how to research and 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.
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. 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.
Library spaces
UVA has six library locations, each with different subject specialties.
- Charles L. Brown Science & Engineering Library: Located in Clark Hall, Brown Library holds materials in astronomy, biology, chemistry, math, physics, and psychology and has reservable spaces for collaborative study. It is also home to Subject Liaison Librarians for Science and Engineering as well as Research Data Services, where you can find support for data analysis, statistical methods, and the computational data sciences. StatLab can provide help with statistics and data wrangling!
- Clemons Library: Clemons and Shannon, together, house the University’s social sciences and humanities collections. Popular 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 classics. Study spaces include a large open area on the main floor and study carrels and tables on the second floor. Its R Lab, a space dedicated to collaborative work, has special reservation options to accommodate faculty.
- Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library: The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library holds more than 16 million objects including manuscripts, rare books, photographs, recordings, and more. Harrison/Small is also home to exhibitions on the main and lower floors.
- Music Library: The Music Library has one of the most significant music collections in the southeastern United States and is the only Library location on UVA’s Lawn. Study spaces include the large, unique main floor, as well as study carrels on the lower level.
- The Edgar Shannon Library: UVA’s largest library building holds social sciences and humanities materials, and offers an open layout, natural light, and lots of seating 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, Subject Liaison Librarians for the humanities, and a seminar room that can be used for classes and special events. In addition, Shannon has a large lounge and kitchenette exclusively for graduate students.
Curious to look around? Interactive online maps let you explore Library locations from your computer or your phone.
