Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library

For the fifth stop on the Library Tour, we visited the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library at UVA.  Located on the Arts Grounds (also home to the UVA Art Museum, Culbreth Theatre, and the School of Architecture), the Fine Arts Library is unassuming from the outside.  The entrance is small and narrow and has no lobby, but instead leads directly into the circulation desk area.  The interior is cozy, the ceilings are low, and the aisles of packed bookshelves would be best described as whatever the opposite of "spacious" is.  A dimly lit stairwell straight out of the 1970s leads you to the upper floor which offers a more spacious study room off to the left, with windowed walls and a view of the Architecture School.  But if you continue straight, past the windowed study room, the walls close in again and you are offered more cozily packed bookshelves, a few small study carrels, and a small white staircase leading to the secret third floor.  It is really more of a loft than an actual third floor, with more tightly packed bookshelves and a small circular balcony that wraps around the low ceiling and looks down on the shelves below. 

The collection of books, even in what feels like a slightly cramped space, is impressive.  I was particularly struck by the volumes and volumes of art books written in other  languages- Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese- that filled the shelves.  It would be a fun place to go back and explore, as it is clearly overflowing with books on every type of painting, drawing, fabric art, landscaping and pottery throughout the centuries.  I would certainly like to revisit and check out some more of these treasures, but I'm not sure I would use it frequently as just a place to hang out.  

One final note: of all five libraries that I have visited on the tour so far, the Fine Arts Library was by far the most deathly silent.  I appreciate a respectful and quiet library environment, but in the two and a half floors that I explored I did not hear even a whisper or a clicking of keys typing- and there were many people in there!  It was silent almost to the point of being tense; every time I took a step I felt like I was disrupting the ecosystem.  But if my main complaint about a library is that "it's too quiet", I suppose that is really not a horrible thing.  And the next time I need some artistic inspiration, I know where to come!