The shelves behind the Reference Desk hold the library's reference collection, beginning on the back side of the first row. These "stacks" are shorter than those for the circulating books; they are 3 or 5 shelves high.

Reference books (such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases) contain short answer information for often-asked questions and/or specialized research information.

These materials need to be available to students at all times, so they do not check out of the library.