Amherst College Library

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Amherst, MA
Amherst College Library

Research help, archives & special collections, science & music libraries, digital resources, ILL, a Robert Frost Library is the main library on campus.

Frost houses collections in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as general interest science materials, including books in computer science. Books, CD-ROMs, and bound periodicals are intermingled, and shelved on the top 2 and lower 3 floors of the library. Each floor also has special materials. Current periodicals and reference materials are on the 1st floor. Current newspapers, mic

rofilm, and microfiche are on the 2nd floor. DVDs and videos are on A-level. Maps are on B-level. Government documents and the Dewey book collection are on C-level. Check the floor plans or ask a staff member for more details. Archives & Special Collections, on A-level, hold rare books, collections of special interest, and materials about the history of the college. Online resources, such as databases, e-books, and e-journals, are also available. Amherst College faculty, staff, and students can get off-campus access to these resources or use them in the library. In most cases, the general public can use these materials in the library on a walk-in basis. Located in the Science Center, Keefe Science Library provides access to course reserves for STEM courses. The Vincent Morgan Music Library, located on the second floor of the Music Building, contains books, journals, scores, and recordings. The Library also has listening equipment for records, cassettes and compact discs. The Music Building does not have an elevator. Library staff members are always willing to page material to be used in the accessible Frost Library. Hours listed on our page are for Frost Library. To check the hours of all the libraries, visit our hours page: https://www.amherst.edu/library/hours

01/25/2026

Due to the coming storm, the library (Frost, Science, & Music) will be closed on Sunday, January 25 and Monday, January 26. We'll see you on Tuesday!

01/23/2026

The library will close today at 5pm as planned, we are closed tomorrow, and our hours on Sunday have changed due to the forecast. Keep an eye on our website to learn of any other changes!

We hope everyone returning to campus has a safe trip, and we'll see you soon! ❄️

11/14/2025

New audiovisual materials are now available through Amherst College Digital Collections! Some are joining existing collections, while others are launching brand-new ACDC collections that will continue to grow over time. In a new Consecrated Eminence post about the new materials, Digital Stewardship Librarian Chelsea Wells writes, “Together, [the new materials] capture the spirit of campus life, from the quirky to the heartfelt, and offer alumni a chance to relive moments that shaped their time here.”

Visit the link in our bio to explore a guide to the newest audiovisual additions that include never-before-seen material. In order, the stills featured in this post are from There’s Never Been a Better Time Than Now (1984); A Question of Place: Women at Amherst (1988); Dedication Ceremony for the Gerald Penny Black Cultural Center (1974); an amateur film from 1963 of President Kennedy's Visit by Edward Rowen (AC 1950); Going Through College: A Study in Perspective (1978); and a Freshman Rope Pull from 1950.

https://consecratedeminence.wordpress.amherst.edu/2025/11/06/new-audiovisual-materials/

[Image Description: Students in a classroom, students sitting and talking on coaches, a singer performing to an audience, JFK giving a speech, a chemistry class, and students walking a tightrope outdoors.]

11/12/2025

The map of the month for November is a topographic map of the island of Kosrae, a constituent member of the Federated States of Micronesia. Published in 2001 and printed in 2004, this map demonstrates many of the features of a typical topographic map, with contour lines indicating the elevation and slope of the land (i.e., lines that are closer together show a steeper slope), small boxes indicating individual structures, natural elements like the coral reefs that ring the island, and vegetation (or the lack thereof) indicated by color.

More United States Geological Survey maps of this region are available in Map Case III, Drawer 14. For a selection of other USGS topographic maps that demonstrate the variety of this series when it was still available in print, see Map Case I, Drawer 13.

[Image Description: Five images of the topographic map of the island of Kosrae, a constituent member of the Federated States of Micronesia, including an image of the overall map, and four images of specific parts of the map, including the map's title.]

11/05/2025

Happy November! This month, Frost Library is highlighting books on contemporary Indigenous American artists and photographers with a new book display. Swipe left to explore some of the titles featured this month. You can check all the books on display out at the front desk!

[Image Description: Ten images of the new book display showing the display from afar followed by nine images of specific books on display.]

10/31/2025

We hope to see you today in Frost for Trick or Treating from 3:30 - 5:00! We'll have candy plus some cookies and warm drinks.

10/28/2025

Hats: A Celebration of History and Culture Through the Art of Millinery in Amherst is now on display in Frost. Stop by the exhibition case on Frost Level 1 today to see a selection of hats from a special town-wide exhibit showcasing historic and modern hat designs representing the fashion, style, traditions, and unseen labor that fueled the hat making industry in the Connecticut River Valley and beyond. The display case exhibits objects that link the history of hat making and wearing with the history of Amherst College, as hats were an important part of the first hundred years of the college’s history. On view in Frost is a new hat designed for Amherst College by Anika Lopes, founder and executive director of Ancestral Bridges and a professional milliner. The hat is paired with historical hats and items from the Archives and Special Collections. To see the hats, photographs, and books on display, stop by the exhibit today. To learn more about the exhibit and hats at Amherst, visit the link in our bio.

[Image Description: Six images of the Hats exhibition, showing the display case from afar, followed by five images of specific objects on display.]

10/27/2025

Looking for your next great listen? Amherst students, faculty, and staff can now access a selection of audiobooks and eBooks on Libby! This new and growing collection currently features literary fiction, memoir, and social commentary titles. To access Libby, visit the link in our bio and use your Amherst login to sign in, or search for Amherst College to add us in the Libby app!

[Image Description: An image of a blurry bookcase with two text boxes sharing information about Libby at Amherst, followed by six slides with images of different books above brief descriptions.]

10/24/2025

Have you ever wondered what Frost Library was like in the 1960s? These photos, curated in honor of Frost's upcoming sixtieth anniversary, show that while the building may look the same in some ways, activity in the library used to be very different. Despite changes, sixty years after its dedication, Frost Library continues to serve as an intellectual and community hub for the Amherst College campus.

Join us today from 3-6 pm in Friendly in the Reading Room to celebrate our mid-century home with activities and snacks, and help us imagine what the future could hold. '60s attire is optional, but encouraged!

[Image Description: Ten captioned images from the 1960s showing Frost Library. The library's architect is shown, as are students working on different levels, administrative offices and staff, the card catalog, and a truck moving books from Converse Hall to Frost.]

10/22/2025

Happy October! This month, we're commemorating Q***r and Trans History Month by partnering with the Q***r Resource Center for a new book display. Come check out the display, which includes a selection of books made by the QRC (). All books are available for checkout at the front desk.

[Image Description: An image of the new book display from the front, followed by five images of specific books on the display (titles mentioned above).]

10/17/2025

🌕🌕 The Map of the Month for October is now up! 🌕🌕 Stop by the Map Room on B Level to see this month’s map, a pictorial lunar map perfect for this time of year. This map was produced in 1963 by the Army Map Service, and predates both the 1965 Topographic Lunar Maps created using Earth-based photogrammetry and the 1966-67 Lunar Orbiter missions that circled the moon to more precisely document the potential landing sites for the moon landing in 1969. While the later maps were intended to provide useful data for those planning the mission to place the first person on the moon, this pictorial map lacks information about the physical details of the moon's surface. Instead, it has false color imagery (using blue for the moon's "seas") and a striking background (a shade darker than Mammoth purple, but pretty close). To learn more about this map, stop by the map room. Once October ends, this map (along with the aforementioned Topographical Lunar Maps) will be stored in Map Case IV, Drawer 9. You can also find the five-sheet Pictorial Representation of Mars that was drawn in a similar style.

[Image Description: A map of the moon in shades of yellow and green before a dark purple background, followed by three up-close images of the moon and one image of the map’s bottom right corner label, which reads, “Pictorial Lunar Map.”]

10/15/2025

Swipe left to open an amuletic miniature Qur'an, distributed by Air France to pilgrims making the Hajj from French colonies in West Africa and the Maghreb. By the 1930s, the French colonial authorities had begun to organize an official Hajj route from West Africa by steamship. In the immediate aftermath of WWII, this included the charter of aircraft for small numbers of high-status pilgrims from French colonies in Africa, when the total number of pilgrims from across the globe visiting Mecca numbered in the tens of thousands only, as compared to the millions that mass air travel now permits each year. By the 1950s, the French authorities permitted commercial airlines, including Air France, to offer Hajj routes, when this keychain-amulet was first distributed. To see this miniature Qur’an in person, stop by the Archives today.

[Image Description: Eight images of the amuletic miniature Qur’an keychain: two images of the unopened keychain, the opened keychain with the Qur’an inside, the keychain next to the miniature Qur’an, the Qur’an from two different angles next to the keychain, an image of the Qur’an’s pages, and one of an interior page spread]

Address

61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst, MA
01002

Website

https://www.amherst.edu/library

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