Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design provides the RISD community with space and resources for curiosity to thrive; where questions are formulated, answers are found, and new possibilities are imagined.
Our collections and services are developed and stewarded to support the mission of the college “to educate its students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge, and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation.”
We welcome the creative and curious to explore our collections and connect with librarians, archivists, and staff to support their various lines of inquiry and research paths.
“The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is — it's to imagine what is possible” - bell hooks
Founded in 1878, RISD's library is one of the oldest independent art college libraries in the country. Begun in a bookcase in the Hoppin Homestead building, the books were moved to the Waterman Building when it opened in 1893, settling in a number of rooms before relocating in 1909 to what is now the Nature Lab — a proper library with a librarian, Eliza Buffington (read more about the library's early years on Digital Commons).
Outgrowing that location, the library moved to an elegant, wood-paneled space in the newly constructed College Building in 1937 (now known as the "Old Library").
In the summer of 2006, the library moved into a new facility in the first two floors of the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust bank at 15 Westminster Street directly across the river from the RISD Auditorium.
The magnificent banking hall serves as the library’s main reading room, while the second floor accommodates a new reading room for Archives and Special Collections as well as expanded space for the Materials and Picture Collections.
Library collections include more than 155,000 volumes and 320 periodical subscriptions (print) and offer unusual depth and richness in the areas of architecture, art, design and photography. The library is noted for its artists’ book collection, its rare books, and visual and material resource collections.
