Imagine this: your professor just mentioned that the class has to do an investigation. This means you need to take a trip to the library to gather some materials, and sit down to organize the information. The issue is you’re not sure exactly where to go. Don’t worry, there’s a whole system of libraries in the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus to choose from, some of which will be listed below!
1. Biblioteca José M. Lázaro
The Biblioteca Lázaro is the main one on campus and it’s located across the street from the Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte de Río Piedras. It was named after the ex-professor and philosopher José M. Lázaro. Different events are hosted throughout the semester on its first floor, and there’s an area where you can study, use computers, and search up documents for research papers. You can also reserve rooms on the first and second floor for study groups.
2. Biblioteca Dr. Rafael Picó Santiago
This library is part of the Graduate School of Planification and was named after professor and senator Rafael Picó Santiago. It can be found on the sixth floor of the central tower in Plaza Universitaria. The space holds a large amount of bibliographic collections like magazines, books, and maps. So it’s perfect for research and especially perfect if you’re a communications major and don’t want to walk too far off to catch up on some work, since it also has various areas to sit down and study. It opens relatively late at 11:00 A.M., but it closes at 9:00 P.M.
3. Biblioteca Gerardo Sellés Solá
This library was named after the seventh president of the Association of Teachers of Puerto Rico and the Dean of Pedagogy of UPR in 1926 Gerardo Sellés Solá. You can find it on the first floor of the Department of Education. Although they offer services to all students, their focus is on people from their department. They also have rooms available for group study sessions. It’s also the library that closes the earliest at 4:30 p.m.
4.Biblioteca Néstor M. Rodríguez Rivera
This library is in the Natural Science Department and can be found on the first floor next to the food truck, Boca Boca. It mainly contains resources for students of the faculty, but it has areas for individual study open to everyone and small rooms for studying.
5.Biblioteca de Derecho
This library can be found in the School of Law. Its usage is almost exclusive to law students, but the study areas including usage of the cubicles and book loans can be used by undergraduate students. Especially if they need to find certain documents related to Civil or Common Law, or simply just something you might not find in one of the other libraries mentioned. Its collection is highly selective because it’s not connected to the general Sistema de Bibliotecas on campus; its administrative and economic control is managed exclusively by the School of Law. It’s the only library on campus that closes at 11:45 P.M. on weekdays.
These are some of the libraries on campus that can be useful to you during your undergraduate years in the UPRRP, and most of them open between 7:00-8:00 A.M. So, you can get your research or just some casual studying started early on in the day.