Spaces

Rush Rhees Library

Designed to serve as a centerpiece of the River Campus when it was dedicated in 1930, Rush Rhees Library is now home to the Art and Music Library, the Barbara J. Burger iZone, the Janis and James S. Gleason Library, the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, and the Rossell Hope Robbins Library and Koller-Collins Center for English Studies, and the University Archives.

Carlson Library

Home to Science and Engineering collections on River Campus, Carlson Library offers expertise and support for students and faculty in STEM disciplines and for data needs across campus. At Carlson, you can connect with subject or data experts, search our collections, or find a space. Carlson is also home to Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X, a hub for extended reality, and the VISTA Collaboratory, a data visualization lab.

Art & Music Library

Located in Rush Rhees, Ground floor

Home to various collections on the visual arts, art theory, architecture, photography, and music, the library offers individuals and small groups several features that aid scholarship and foster curiosity. These features include two viewing rooms with large flat screen monitors, comfortable seating, fold-away tables, whiteboards, media players, gaming systems, 3D blu-ray, and more. 
Reserve a room.

Friedlander Lobby

Located in Rush Rhees, 1st floor

The Friedlander Lobby is the first space you walk into when entering Rush Rhees Library from the Eastman Quadrangle. It contains eight vertical cases that are used for exhibits and digital screens that offer visitors library news. 

Gleason Library

Located in Rush Rhees, 1st floor

The Gleason Library provides individual and collaborative study options, including dedicated quiet spaces. As the only space on the River Campus open 24 hours a day, the space is used to do course work, hold meetings, and to rest and socialize before, between, and after classes.

Great Hall

Located in Rush Rhees, 2nd floor

In addition to offering a quiet place to study and exhibition space, the Great Hall serves as a hub. In the Great Hall you will find entrances to the Humanities Center; Digital Scholarship Lab; Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation; and the Office of the University Libraries Dean. You will also find stairwells that will lead you to the third floor, where you will find library staff offices and offices for the history department.

Hawkins-Carlson Room

Located in Rush Rhees, 1st floor

Accessible from the Roger B. Friedlander Lobby, across from the Welles-Brown Room, the Hawkins-Carlson Room is used to host visiting speakers, special gatherings, and important meetings. 

iZone

Located in Rush Rhees, Ground floor

At iZone, we provide robust programming and services to students interested in developing their skills as creative problem solvers, innovators, and changemakers through credit-bearing courses and workshops, peer-led consulting services, and innovative events that help students hone various college competencies.

Lam Square

Located in Rush Rhees, 1st floor

Based on the concept of a town square, Lam Square serves as a communal space for users to do research, collaborate on projects, explore new technology, and unwind. Users can choose from a variety of tables and seating options, including study booths and lounge chairs. Lam Square also serves as a venue for events and a home to the Q&i service desk, which provides patrons with support for reserves, circulation, and basic research. 

Messinger Graduate Study Rooms

Located in Rush Rhees, 2nd floor

Designed specifically to meet the needs of Rochester’s graduate students, the two study rooms offer exclusive and quiet retreat spaces. The entrances to these rooms can be found at either end of the Messinger Periodical Reading Room.

Periodical Reading Room

Located in Rush Rhees, 2nd floor

Since its opening in 1930, the main reading room of Rush Rhees Library has always been a favorite for student study. This is a beautiful space with classic, majestic styling from the ornate plaster ceiling down to the carvings in the walls.

POA Library

Located in Bausch & Lomb, 3rd floor

The Physics-Optics-Astronomy Library (POA) supports the instructional and research needs of students and faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute of Optics. While it is open to the public every day and most evenings during the academic year, declared departmental majors, graduate students, and the faculty enjoy 24/7 access.

Robbins Library

Located in Rush Rhees, 4th floor

The Robbins Library is a non-circulating medieval studies library that contains comprehensive holdings across global medieval history, literature, art, and culture. The Robbins Library is also home to the Koller-Collins Center for English Studies, a non-circulating humanities research collection.

Special Collections

Located in Rush Rhees, 2nd floor

The Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP), including the University Archives, is home to a rich collection of rare and unique historical materials.

Visitors are welcome. RBSCP's spaces include the Jacob Robert Cominsky Reading Room, the Hyam Plutzik Library for Contemporary Writing, and the William Henry Seward Room.

Welles-Brown Room

Located in Rush Rhees, 1st floor

 Accessible from the Roger B. Friedlander Lobby, across from the Hawkins-Carlson Room, the Welles-Brown Room is used to host visiting speakers, receptions, and social events. 

Studio X

Located in Computer Studies, 1st floor

Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X is the hub for extended reality at the University of Rochester. We provide access to space, technology, expertise, and community.