While the University Libraries at Virginia Tech are primarily focused on serving the research needs of the university community, we still provide a number of pleasure reading books and popular literature.
The popular reading collection is made up of best sellers and recently published fiction and non-fiction, this collection is located on the exterior wall beside the second floor Learning Commons.
These books check out for 21 days and cannot be renewed. Overdue fines are $1/day, regardless of borrower's status. These books cannot be recalled, but you can place a hold to be next in line to check them out. See a complete list of this collection online.
Most of our ebooks are nonfiction books related to the academic and research programs at the university. We do have a few collections that include novels and other pleasure reading.
Users can search the catalog by title or author to find pleasure reading books. It is often easier to start by searching for a known work, like R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton, and then use the links provided on the catalog screen for that work to find related works:
British literature, 1900-1960 | PR6000-PR6049 |
British literature, 1961-2000 | PR6050-PR6076 |
British literature, 2001- | PR6100-PR6126 |
Asian, African, Australian, New Zealand and Caribbean Literature |
PR9199-PR9639 |
American literature, 1900-1960 | PS3500-PS3549 |
American literature, 1961-2000 | PS3550-PS3576 |
American literature, 2001- | PS3600-PS3626 |
Canadian literature | PS8001-PS8599 |
Like most academic libraries and unlike public libraries and bookstores, Newman Library does not have a fiction section. Our fiction is cataloged using the Library of Congress call number system. Literature is arranged by the country of origin of the author and is further divided by date, based on the year an author was born.
British, Scottish, Irish, and Australian fiction is located in the PR call number range; fiction written in English by authors from the Caribbean, India, Asia, New Zealand, and Africa are also located there. American and Canadian fiction is found in the PS range. Each author is assigned a call number of his or her own, which arranges the books in alphabetical order by author (note that books about an author's works will also be found in the same call number range). Literature from other countries and languages will be located in other P call number ranges.
Residents of Montgomery and Floyd counties, including students living on campus, are eligible to obtain a library card from the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library (MFRL). While the Virginia Tech Libraries select items for its collections primarily based on the academic research needs of its users, public libraries strive to collect popular works (among many other types), with frequent turnover of their collections. While university libraries typically purchase a single copy of a book, public libraries often purchase multiple copies of popular works. We highly recommend our students, faculty and staff take advantage of the offerings of their local public library.
A number of books and websites provide recommended reading lists based on a person’s interests and favorite authors and genres. Search titles and authors of recommendations in Addison and the MFRL catalogs.
© 2017 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
University Libraries (0434)
Carol M. Newman Library, Virginia Tech
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540) 231-6170
© 2017 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University