VCU Libraries
At VCU Libraries, we believe in the potential within every student, scholar, researcher and community member. Unlocking Potential: VCU’s Campaign for the Future is a bold initiative to invest in that potential — by expanding access to knowledge, enhancing library services and technology, and empowering the VCU community to push boundaries and pursue bold ideas.
As cornerstones of academic life at VCU, VCU’s libraries fuel discovery, support research, teaching and learning, and provide
access to the resources and spaces that spark curiosity and creativity. With your support, we will expand opportunities for student success, strengthen faculty partnerships and elevate VCU’s libraries as hubs for collaboration and innovation across
disciplines. Together, we can ensure that VCU Libraries continue to catalyze lifelong learning and groundbreaking research.
Join us in unlocking potential at VCU Libraries. When you invest in libraries, you invest in the future of education, research, discovery and progress.
Our goal
You will unlock potential in VCU Libraries when you help us reach our goal of $5 million.
Our priorities
Increasing access and fostering student success
VCU Libraries is committed to empowering student success by reducing the financial barriers to education. One of the most impactful ways we do this is through our Open and Affordable Course Content initiative, which helps faculty transition to free or low-cost learning materials. With educational costs continuing to rise and student debt reaching
historic levels, this work is more critical than ever.
Your support will help us grow a dedicated endowment to ensure the sustainability of this vital initiative. An endowment will provide long-term funding to maintain and expand the program — from staffing support, including student employees, to the upkeep of existing resources and the administration of our annual Affordable Course Content Awards, which recognize faculty innovation and dedication to reducing textbook costs by creating learning materials for use in their courses.
Your generosity will also increase the Friends of VCU Libraries Scholarships. Our goal is to expand the fund so that it can double the number of students it supports each year with significant support. Unlike typical scholarships, the Friends of VCU Libraries Scholarships support one student on the Monroe Park Campus and one student from the MCV Campus, who is either a junior or a senior or a graduate student with a bachelor’s degree from VCU and a GPA of 2.5 or higher. This support helps our students get to the finish line in their academic journey.
Together, we will unlock solutions that offset the costs of a college degree and directly support the students who need help the most.
Sustaining institutional excellence and achieving prominence
VCU Libraries is transforming the student and scholarly experience through key investments in space, technology and resources, such as the new Book Arts Lab in the James Branch Cabell Library. This dedicated space will feature studio-quality worktables, specialized book production equipment and robust infrastructure to support hands-on learning and instruction. It will elevate VCU’s nationally recognized book arts program, giving students and faculty the tools they need to explore the art and craft of the book in new and meaningful ways. This transdisciplinary lab inspires new ways to deliver information.
With your support, VCU Libraries will continue to lead, inspire and empower future generations of learners and scholars.
Together, we will unlock transformational spaces that ensure VCU Libraries remain at the forefront of education, preserving collections and fostering innovation for future generations.
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Shape what’s next
VCU Libraries supports all of VCU — every student as well as all VCU schools and VCU Health. We provide access to information and support the creation of knowledge through our robust resources, research support and study/collaboration spaces. VCU Libraries are part of every student’s experience and your gift in support of VCU Libraries will help them all, now and for generations to come. Whether your support is for our efforts to Advance Affordable Course Content and lower (or remove) the cost of textbooks for students, the Friends of VCU Libraries Scholarship, Transforming Library Spaces to adapt our physical spaces to current needs or simply the Friends of VCU Libraries for unrestricted annual support, know that your gift makes a difference in the lives of our students.
Irene M.H. Herold, Ph.D.
Dean, VCU Libraries
You are the key.
You’ve seen how this historic effort is unlocking potential across VCU and VCU Health for students, patients, faculty members, researchers, clinicians and members of our community. Now it’s your turn. How will you help shape what’s next?