The University of Washington Libraries (UW Libraries) is the academic library system of the University of Washington.
The Libraries serves the Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell campuses of the University of Washington and the university's Friday Harbor Laboratories. The library system is the largest collection in the Pacific Northwest, closely followed by the University of British Columbia Library, and is among the largest academic research libraries in North America. UW Libraries won the 2004 ACRL "Excellence in Academic Libraries Award".
The University of Washington Libraries have a collection of more than 9 million books, journals, millions of microforms, thousands of maps, rare books, film, audio and video recordings. The Libraries' website provides the connection to a wide range of print and electronic resources available in the Libraries and on the World Wide Web.
The UW Libraries special collections holds over three-thousand audio recordings of Pacific Northwest indigenous languages. They document over fifty native dialects.
Services and resources are provided primarily for University of Washington students, faculty, and staff as part of the Libraries' mission to support teaching, learning, research, and service at the University of Washington. Visitors who come to the Libraries are welcome to use most resources and many of the services. Researchers throughout the world have access to a broad range of materials and various interlibrary loan and document delivery services.
The Libraries system is composed of the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, the primary location for information and services in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; the Odegaard Undergraduate Library (OUGL) which houses the Odegaard Learning Commons and is open 24 hours weekdays during school days; the Health Sciences Library and Information Center (HSLIC); the East Asia Library; fifteen specialized branch libraries; the Bothell/CCC Library; and the Tacoma Library. The Marian G. Gallagher Law Library and Elisabeth C. Miller Library are administered separately from the UW Libraries system.