About the Libraries

Ink drawing of the McCabe entrance showing students on the patio

The libraries cultivate scholarship and intellectual curiosity in our community through access to expertise, collections, and spaces.

McCabe Library, depicted in the drawing above, is the main library on campus and holds our collections for the humanities and social sciences. McCabe is also home to all of Swarthmore’s Special Collections: The College Archives, Friends Historical Library, the Peace Collection, and the Rare Book Room, and additionally to our Digital Scholarship department.

There are two substantial branch libraries on campus: the Cornell Library for Science and Engineering, and Underhill Library of Music & Dance.

See Libraries & Collections for information about additional collections on campus.