University of Chicago Library

University of Chicago Library
The interior of the Harper Memorial Library. Today, Harper Memorial functions as a study space and reading room; it no longer provides collection access.
Map
LocationHyde Park, Chicago, United States
TypeAcademic library
Established1891
Branches6
Collection
Size11,560,575[1]
Access and use
Circulation440,000
Members33,000
Other information
DirectorTorsten Reimer
Websitelib.uchicago.edu Edit this at Wikidata
References: Andrew Abbott: The University Library

The University of Chicago Library is the academic library system of the University of Chicago. It is the seventh largest academic library and the fourth largest private library in the United States, with over 13.5 million volumes as of 2024.[2] The library also holds 65,330 linear feet of archives and manuscripts and 245 terabytes of born-digital archives, digitized collections, and research data.[3] The library system consists of six constituent libraries.[4]

The library was founded in 1891 by the inaugural president of the University of Chicago, William Rainey Harper, who set the course for Special Collections as a "working collection". The library's collections are located in six sites: the Joseph Regenstein Library (primary library), the John Crerar Library (for science, technology, and medicine), the D'Angelo Law Library (for legal studies), the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library (storage library), the Eckhart Library (for mathematics and statistics), and the Social Work Library (for social work).[4]

The library has borrowing privileges with several other archives, museums, and libraries in the Chicago area, including the Art Institute of Chicago Library, the Chicago History Museum, Fermilab, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Newberry Library.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Roebuck, Gary; Morris, Shaneka; Kyrillidou, Martha (September 29, 2015). "ARL Statistics 2013-2014".
  2. ^ "Site Protection - Verification Required". www.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  3. ^ "About the Library - The University of Chicago Library". www.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Campus Libraries".
  5. ^ "Libraries and Museums". College Admissions. Retrieved March 14, 2019.

Further reading

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  • Archer, Horace Richard. "Some Aspects of the Acquisition Program at the University of Chicago Library, 1892-1928" (PhD dissertation,  The University of Chicago; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1954. T-02599).
  • Dorf, A. "The University of Chicago Libraries : A Historical Note" Library Quarterly 4 (April 1934 ):185-197.
  • Freisinger, Judith. "A Program for Library Services at Billings Library, The University of Chicago (Illinois)" (PhD dissertation, The University of Chicago; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1977. TM26375).
  • Thackery, David Thomas.  "The Far Eastern Library of the University of Chicago, 1936--1978 (Illinois)" (Thesis, The University of Chicago; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1983. TM28713).
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