Individually and collectively, the University of California libraries provide access to the world’s knowledge for the UC campuses and the communities they serve. They directly support UC’s missions of teaching, research, and public service. The University of California libraries, which include some of the world’s most distinctive collections and innovative services, comprise the largest university research library in the world. At UC, faculty, students and staff have access to extensive intellectual resources that combine to form the Libraries’ vast collective holdings.
The UC libraries have taken advantage of their combined strengths as a system to develop numerous programs that decrease costs and improve efficiency while increasing access to the distinct library collections offered at each UC campus. A systemwide, strategic approach to the development of library collections and services has emphasized multi-campus collaboration, the application of new technology, and expanded University-wide sharing of the information resources within the UC library collections. All faculty, students, and staff at the ten UC campuses have access to the millions of items in the libraries’ collective holdings.
The UC libraries’ collections of scholarly materials, both on campuses and online, include rare and historic books, photographs, works of art, musical scores, ephemera, manuscripts, maps, and other items. The acclaimed research collections, innovative services, user-friendly facilities, and highly trained staff constitute an unparalleled resource for students, scholars, and California residents.
As advances in the development and use of new technologies to create, publish, store, search for, and deliver information have begun to transform libraries, the importance of the library as a rich scholarly environment becomes even more vital. Campus libraries provide crucial intellectual and social hubs for individual research and study, collaborative work, teaching and learning, and cultural events and exhibits.