Ramsey Library Upper Floor

What's upstairs?

General Collection A - P

The upper floor houses most of the General Collection (books that may be checked out) with Library of Congress call numbers beginning with letters A through P. This part of the collection includes philosophy, history, the social sciences, music, art, and literature -- in short, everything but the sciences, juvenile literature, and curriculum materials, which are shelved on the lower floor.

Oversized Books

Books that are too tall to fit on regular shelves have a location of "UNCA OVERSIZE." There are two sizes of really big books, oversize one and oversize two, which used to be, back when people appreciated arcane library jargon, "Quarto" and "Folio." Oversize two books are very, very tall, and are shelved at the end of the OVERSIZE section.

Quiet Study Area

The upper floor is also a quiet study area; please be considerate of others. The main floor, on the other hand, is a busy place, with a lot of traffic and people talking to library staff. If you want to concentrate, find an empty table or carrel on the upper or lower floors. Also, if people are boorish and inconsiderate, you may ask them to be quiet; if that makes you uncomfortable, please ask someone at the Circulation Desk to speak to the offenders. If you forget where you are and someone has to ask you to be quiet, do not be overly embarrassed; just be nice and be quiet, and everyone will forgive you and happiness and harmony will ooze all around.

Group and Private Studies

Private Studies are assigned to faculty or students based on need. Applications are available at the Circulation Desk. These studies are locked for security, but any library materials kept in private studies must be checked out. Yes, we do check.

Group studies may be used by anyone, but individuals should be prepared to yield to groups of 2 or more, since there is a limited number of these rooms. Each study has a chalkboard, a clock, and electrical outlets for your laptop or other (non-noisy) equipment.

Special Collections

Local history primary materials, photographs, rare books or artifacts, and the University archives are in Special Collections. If you need to use anything here, it's a good idea to check with the staff first, since hours are limited. Visit the Special Collections Web page for more information.

Library Administration

The University Librarian's office is near the head of the stairs on the upper level.

UNCA Center for Teaching and Learning

Dedicated to the improvement of teaching, the UNCA Center for Teaching and Learning maintains a Web page and a collection of resource materials.

Staff room

Library staff get their campus mail here and gather for breaks, meetings, or lunch. Yes, there is a big window, but it's unlikely that anyone is peering at you from it.

Views

From the inside windows upstairs, you can look down at the Research & Technology Desk, into the Red Oak Conference Room, and across the campus to Mt. Pisgah.

Return to the Upper Floor map.