UCLA Library: Powell Library

A World-class Intellectual Resource

Illuminated medieval manuscripts and electronic scientific journals. Award-winning author’s notes and journals of Holocaust survivors. Rare Audubon prints and Los Angeles Times photo archives. These are just some of the vital, irreplaceable materials found at the UCLA Library that help scholars pursue learning and research.

The UCLA Library is ranked among the top 10 for academic research in North America. Housing one of the most comprehensive collections in the world, it has more than 9 million volumes, tens of thousands of serial subscriptions and extensive online academic resources. In fact, UCLA students have access to the holdings of all the University of California libraries, which collectively are second in size only to those of the Library of Congress. And they find themselves in even greater need of library materials that support new areas of research and instruction.

The continuing decline in state support for the library and the university, coupled with the soaring prices of journals and books, means that the library’s ability to purchase the essential resources users are demanding is becoming more difficult every year. In addition, to successfully meet the campus’ goal of academic excellence, we need to reconceptualize and renovate many of our library spaces.

“To fulfill our aspirations, we will need help, support and advice from all of our library supporters,” says Virginia Steel, UCLA university librarian. Gifts to the Library Associates College Library Fund are a concrete way to recognize that the library is at the heart of UCLA’s entire academic enterprise. They provide unrestricted annual support for the current and future generations of scholars at UCLA and throughout the world who depend on the UCLA Library’s intellectual resources.