Photo by Joe Shlabotnik
Books are wonderful things, and we’d love to buy them all! However, budget constraints and shelf space keep us in check. If you think we are lacking books related to an academic discipline or particular topic, please let us know, and we’ll look into it.
As far as fun books go, as a university library our primary mission is to support the curriculum, therefore the bulk of our budget goes toward purchasing materials for that purpose. We do purchase a fair amount of literature, but we cannot purchase as much as a public library. Speaking of which, you should check out your public library! The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has an enormous selection of books (and audiobooks!), and the Squirrel Hill branch is less than a mile from campus. You have to be a resident of Allegheny County to get a card – living on campus counts. Otherwise, check out the public library nearest your home. We also have a Carnegie Library information sheet available at the reference desk if you’d like more information about how to go about getting a card.
We do still have a variety of fun books to read here. We have a popular reading display that you’ll notice to your right as you walk into the library building. Those books rotate as they get checked out. You might also try checking out some of the books in the 810-819 range on the 3rd floor – that’s where you’ll find the American fiction, humor (think David Sedaris), and poetry books, as well as plays. The rest of the 800s contain literature from other cultures.