The Edgar Shannon Library

Shannon Library, along with Clemons Library, holds UVA’s social sciences and humanities collection. Shannon also holds the Flowerdew Hundred archaeological and records collection; Government Documents (the UVA Library is a U.S. federal regional depository); the Library’s renowned Tibetan Collection; the Stanley and Lucie Weinstein Buddhist and Asian Studies Library; and the collections shelved in the Reference, Periodicals, & Oversize Room. The building also contains workrooms for evaluating materials and performing routine maintenance, as well as spaces and specialized equipment for digitization of materials, AV reformatting and digital preservation, and physical remediation and conservation. The two conservation labs are fronted by windows through which viewers can see conservators at work. Shannon is also home to the Digital Humanities Center, which consists of the Scholars’ Lab and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, and Rare Book School — the preeminent institution for students of all disciplines and skill levels to study the history of written, printed, and digital materials.

Shannon Library has a wide variety of reader seating, including Memorial Hall; the Reference, Periodicals, and Oversize Room; and the McGregor Room. There are also two large Study Courts, several reading rooms, study carrels, reservable group study rooms, and seating in and around the stacks. The building is equipped with accessible restrooms and a lactation room. An internal passage connects Shannon to Clemons, and users can move freely with materials between the buildings. Read more for a history of Shannon Library, including the building’s 2018-2024 renovation.

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Find your way around Shannon Library

Self-guided tour

Interactive map

Building guide (PDF)

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