About our Libraries

The University Libraries' system is housed on five campuses including Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Oakdale and Rome. The Libraries:

  • Are committed to teaching and learning by providing resources and instruction;
  • House collections across all five campuses – numbering more than 1.5 million items, including books, periodicals, microforms, and audiovisual materials;
  • House, at the Queens Library, a selective depository for U.S. government documents;
  • Include the Chin Ying Asian Library, containing an excellent selection of Asian-language materials as well as English materials supporting Asian Studies;
  • Are proud to number among their collections the Reference Art File, a unique collection containing art exhibition and auction catalogs from the late 1960s through the early 1980s;
  • Are home to an Instructional Materials Center, containing pre-K-12 curriculum materials;
  • Also make available the Special Collections, which include the Governor Hugh L. Carey Collection as well as the William M. Fischer Lawn Tennis Library and the University Archives.

In addition to traditional materials, computers located throughout each library provide access, including wireless access, to a wide variety of electronic resources. These include the catalogs of the St. John's Libraries; the catalogs of more than two dozen consortium libraries; bibliographic and electronic full-text databases; and more. These resources are available both on and off campus via the web. In addition, cooperative arrangements with other libraries provide regional, national and international access to materials through Interlibrary Services.

Students studying
Students in class