Academic library

An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students.^[1] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an estimated 3,700 academic libraries in the United States.^[1] Class reading materials, intended to supplement lectures by the instructor and housed in academic libraries, have historically known as "reserves". Before electronic resources became available, the reserves were supplied as actual books or as photocopies of appropriate journal articles. Modern academic libraries provide access to electronic resources.

Academic libraries must determine a focus for collection development since comprehensive collections are not feasible. Librarians do this by identifying the needs of the faculty, student body, the mission and academic programs of the college or university. When there are particular areas of specialization in academic libraries, these are often referred to as niche collections. These collections are often the basis of a special collection department and they may include original papers, manuscripts, artwork, and artifacts written or created by a single author or about a specific subject.

Among academic libraries, Harvard Library at Harvard University, which houses over 20 million volumes, 400 million manuscripts, 10 million photographs, and one million maps, is the largest in the world.^[2][3]

Some academic libraries are organized collaboratively, including collections from multiple academic libraries. Among these, the University of California, which includes holdings from its member libraries with over 40.8 million print volumes across 100 libraries on ten campuses, is the largest^[4] In the Netherlands, the Royal Library, a national and academic library with holdings from several universities, ranks among the world's largest collaborative academic libraries.^[5] The University of the South Pacific, which has academic libraries distributed throughout its 12 member countries, also ranks among the world's largest.^[1]