University of Virginia Library

The University of Virginia was conceived with a library at its heart, placed in the Rotunda at the head of the Academical Village. The Library’s first collection was selected by Thomas Jefferson and arranged according to a classification scheme he adapted from Francis Bacon’s The Advancement of Learning. Today, the Library’s original purpose remains unchanged: to provide access to accumulated knowledge, and in so doing, increase it—in short, to advance learning. In pursuit of that goal, we collect, preserve, organize, and share materials of all kinds.