Libraries

When the Commonwealth of Virginia chartered UVA in 1819, a library — instead of a chapel — was at the University's center. By today’s standards, this seems common practice. But at a time when universities were structured around the church, this was radical.

Today, the University of Virginia’s many libraries remain central to advancing human knowledge, educating leaders and cultivating an informed citizenry. Inspired by the collecting policies of the Library of Congress, which emphasizes all subjects are important to leadership of the country, the UVA Library collects, preserves, organizes and shares materials of all varieties, providing unfettered access to an accumulation of knowledge, more than two centuries in the making.