Johnston Memorial Library, the main Library of Virginia State University, houses primary and secondary materials needed to support the academic and research programs of the University. The Library fully complements research and information services to the University community.
The Library provides local access to full-text journals and reference database titles linked to over 250 databases and several thousand journals online. These electronic resources and information are available through the Library's website and the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA). The ALMA/ExLibris (The Fountain) library system provides access to the collections.
The Library has a seating capacity for 600 students and a shelving capacity for approximately 300,000 books. Facilities include exhibit areas, conference and study rooms, and individual carrels. Selected study rooms are equipped for computer access. There are public workstations and a library instruction lab.
Full reference service is available to the entire University community. The Public Sevices Department provides interlibrary loan services through cooperative lending agreements. The Special Collections Department, with a full-time archivist, contains historical documents, memorabilia, and artifacts available to the campus community and other researchers The Library is a selective depository for United States and Virginia government publications.
The Library participates in a statewide collection resource-sharing consortium that provides access to books, government information and statistical data, images, journals, news sources, reference works, and special collections. The consortium also promotes faster interlibrary loan delivery through the Internet and local express mail carriers to get information to users as quickly as possible.