Features

What do you think of when you think of libraries? Books, quiet spaces, shelves lined with dust? Well, if you’ve been to either of the SVA Library’s locations, you know that they undermine the conventional stereotypes. The College’s librarians work to develop expansive, one-of-a-kind collections that support the research, curiosity and inspiration of the SVA community. Read on to learn more about these singular, SVA-centric resources. 

Pop-up Books

Yes, pop-up books. Find over 30 examples of this intricate but playful form of paper engineering in the rare bookcases at the library’s main location, at 380 Second Avenue. From the lightsabers of Star Wars to fantastical abstract shapes and classic stories, this ever-increasing collection exemplifies the art of paper folding with the turn of every page.

Role-Playing Games

A role-playing game (RPG) is a unique method of gaming that relies on collective imagination, collaborative decision-making and shared story-building for success. At SVA Library West, located at 133/141 West 21st Street, you can find classics like Dungeons & Dragons as well as new RPGs made by independent designers. RPGs are an excellent way to step outside of ourselves, collaborate with others and simply have fun. 

SVA Library West’s game collections don’t stop at RPGs, either. Check out their range of tabletop games, video games, virtual-reality games, and more. The SVA Game Collections are here for the College community’s discovery toward research, innovation, and relaxation.

Picture Collection

Imagine carefully cutting over 200,000 images out of magazines that span decades, cultures and genres. Now imagine that all of those pictures are organized into more than 1,000 subject areas, reinforced, placed into folders, organized by subject and available to browse—and even check out—at the main library. 

That’s the Picture Collection: a unique SVA Library resource that provides comprehensive visual insight into the history of culture via the print medium. With subject folders ranging from anatomy, animals and book jackets to textures, toys and typography, this collection provides striking analog inspiration that cannot be replicated in a digital search.

Reinhold Brown: Poster Design Collection

An inconspicuous cabinet in the main library houses an impressive collection of books on international poster design. The Reinhold Brown collection, acquired from the gallery of the same name, consists of more than 700 titles on poster-design history. Browse the shelves and you’ll find examples of Polish and Japanese Modern, Italian, Soviet and international poster-design surveys. It’s a reverie worthy of an hour (or many) of your time. Stop by the main library’s front desk and the staff will show you where to find it.

Underground Comics

Like comics? Then take some time to explore the SVA Library’s collection of underground comics by SVA graduates, faculty and other notable comics creators. Find everything from self-published books to anthologies and even the student work of SVA alumni whose names you may recognize:  Raina Telgemeier (BFA 2002 Illustration), Becky Cloonan (who studied animation, and later taught, at the College), Dash Shaw (BFA 2005 Illustration), Brendan Leach (MFA 2010 Illustration as Visual Essay), Josh Bayer (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2007 Cartooning), Nate Powell (BFA 2000 Cartooning). . . . 

Comics anthologies in the collection include Zero Zero, Gay Comix, Drawn and Quarterly and Meathaus—which SVA graduates started. Many of these comics are impossible to find, yet you can stop by the main library location whenever you like and browse this rare collection.

These are just five of the unexpected collections that are waiting to be discovered at the SVA libraries. Find more information about library locations and hours at library.sva.edu, and follow us on social media for updates and collection highlights @svalibrary (Instagram and Twitter). See you in the stacks!