The University of Washington Libraries (UW Libraries) is the academic library system of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
.
The Libraries serves the
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
,
Tacoma, and
Bothell campuses of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
and the university's
Friday Harbor Laboratories. The library system is the largest collection in the Pacific Northwest, closely followed by the
University of British Columbia Library, and is among the largest academic research
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
in
North America. UW Libraries won the 2004
ACRL
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academi ...
Excellence in Academic Libraries Award.

The
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
Libraries have a collection of more than 9 million books, journals, millions of microforms, thousands of maps, rare books, film, audio and video recordings. The Libraries' website provides the connection to a wide range of print and electronic resources available in the Libraries and on the World Wide Web.
The UW Libraries special collections holds over three-thousand audio recordings of Pacific Northwest indigenous languages. They document over fifty native dialects.
Services and resources are provided primarily for University of Washington students, faculty, and staff as part of the Libraries' mission to support teaching, learning, research, and service at the University of Washington. Visitors who come to the Libraries are welcome to use most resources and many of the services. Researchers throughout the world have access to a broad range of materials and various interlibrary loan and document delivery services.
The Libraries system is composed of the
Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, the primary location for information and services in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; the Odegaard Undergraduate Library (OUGL) which houses the Odegaard Learning Commons and is open 24 hours weekdays during school days; the Health Sciences Library and Information Center (HSLIC); the East Asia Library; fifteen specialized branch libraries; the Bothell/CCC Library; and the Tacoma Library. The Marian G. Gallagher Law Library and Elisabeth C. Miller Library are administered separately from the UW Libraries system.
Library services
Library services include the library catalog, circulation services and
interlibrary loan
Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...
, computing and copying/printing facilities, a grants and funding information service, instructional services, and
ADA access for persons with disabilities.
Libraries and units
Art LibraryBuilt Environments LibraryUniversity of Washington Bothell and Cascadia College LibraryDrama Library Of special note are the more than 14,000 acting editions and sound effects from the
BBC,
CBS and
Sound Ideas.
Engineering Library The library is a designated Patent and Trademark Depository Library and maintains a national depository for the
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...
(ACM). Special resources include industry standards, technical reports, and U.S. patent specifications from 1966 to the present.
*
Foster Business Library
The Foster Business Library is the business library at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. As part of the university system of libraries, it serves the 3,500 students, faculty, and staff of the Foster School of Business. The 21,5 ...
Friday Harbor Library Special materials include collections of reprints, papers and theses based on research conducted at the
Friday Harbor Laboratories.
Government Publications, Maps, Microforms & Newspapers CollectionsHealth Sciences Library*International Studies
**Near East
**Slavic and East European
**Southeast Asia
Mathematics Research LibraryMedia ArcadeMusic Library**Music Listening Center. Among the special resources are the Eric Offenbacher Collection of pre-LP vocal recordings of the music of Mozart, the Hazel B. Kinsella Collection of American hymnals and tune books, the Melville Harris Collection of early disc and cylinder recordings of woodwind solos, and a collection of 17th and 18th century opera scores.
*
Odegaard Undergraduate Library (OUGL)
*Reference and Research Services
Special Collections*
Suzzallo and Allen LibrariesTateuchi East Asia LibraryUniversity of Washington Tacoma Library*Other Libraries
Elisabeth C. Miller Library (University of Washington Botanic Gardens)Marian G. Gallagher Law Library
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
Washington
Washington
Libraries in Seattle