Main Library

Accessibility Information

The recommended accessible entrance is located on the North end of the building across from Chicago Hall. Patrons can enter by card access or by using the call box for assistance. Upon entering there is elevator access to the main floor. Members of the Vassar College community should contact the Office for Accessibility and Educational Opportunity by calling (845) 437-7584 or emailing aeo@vassar.edu to arrange card access. There is elevator access to most levels of the library with accessible restrooms on the main floor and in the basement. Please contact the circulation desk for assistance with the online catalogs and research workstations, book retrieval from the stacks, and individualized library orientation. Additional library support services are available for students and faculty with disabilities through the Office for Accessibility and Educational Opportunity. The closest accessible parking spaces are on Main Gate Drive and in the east parking lot behind Chicago Hall.

All Gender Bathrooms

Located on the first floor and in the basement, accessible.

View the Main Library on the campus map.

A group of people walking out of a building. — The main entrance is not accessible. The accessible entrance is on the north side of the building, across from Chicago Hall.

A building with a lawn and a lamp post. — The sidewalk from the main entrance to the north side entrance is smooth.

A building with a door and a trash can. — The north entrance features a single door with a push-to-open button. Inside is a lift. Outside the door is a book return box.

About the Thompson (Main) Library

The Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library dates to 1905 and is the main library on campus. Vassar’s libraries have more than 1 million volumes in print, including over 50,000 rare books. The 150,000-square-foot building is consistently ranked one of America’s most beautiful college libraries. Its Gothic-style tower is perhaps the main symbol of the Vassar skyline.

The libraries at Vassar are extraordinary and rank among the very best liberal arts collections in the United States both in the number of titles (over 1,000,000 print volumes) and in their exceptional variety and depth. The main library comprises the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library, considered one of the most beautiful collegiate gothic buildings in the country, and two modern additions, the Helen D. Lockwood Library and the Martha Rivers and E. Bronson Ingram Library. The Ingram Library, the most recent addition, houses the Catherine Pelton Durrell Archives and Special Collections and the Francis Fitz Randolph Rare Book Room. During the construction of the Ingram Library, the Thompson Library underwent extensive renovation. The combined result is a resource that effectively merges traditional materials with newer technologies, giving students extraordinary access to a broad range of print materials (books, journals, manuscripts, rare books, and archives) and electronic resources (electronic journals, indexes, full-text indexes, databases, web-based resources, CD ROMs, videos, and laser discs).