Focused primarily on the humanities and social sciences, the five-floor Hillman Library contains approximately 1.5 million volumes, more than 200 computers, study capacity for 1,500 users, service points, a media center, specialized collections, and more. It’s the largest of the 17 libraries on the Pittsburgh campus.
Among Hillman’s special collections are the Eduardo Lozano Latin American Collection, the Buhl Social Work Collection, and the African American Collection. The last collection, begun in 1969, contains 18,000 books, scores of African American periodicals, scholarly journals, and one-of-a-kind government publications, including copies of the FBI surveillance files on Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
Pitt's largest library, Hillman periodically hosts free public displays of treasures from the University's collections. Among the permanent items are the Audubon Exhibit Case, featuring original prints from John James Audubon's The Birds of America (1827-38), and an interactive display featuring the Gold Medal won by Pitt alumnus and track star John Woodruff at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
The Cup & Chaucer Café, located on Hillman’s ground floor, includes popular reading materials and a coffee bar serving coffee and espresso drinks, pastries, and sandwiches. The café also hosts a free weekly series of Emerging Legends Concerts.