Before the first student set foot on the University of West Florida campus, the men and women of the collection development team were hard at work in Town and Country Plaza creating the library collection for the University of West Florida. From those humble beginnings, the John C. Pace Library has grown to include over 700,000 physical volumes, 100,000 e-books, and nearly 2 million microforms. The libraries provide online access to over 250 different databases and online journal packages available from more than 30 different vendors and more than 41,000 journals in full text.

In the John C. Pace library, the majority of the circulating collection is split between the 3rd and 4th floors. The 3rd floor contains books in the Library of Congress call ranging from L through Z. The 4th floor contains call numbers A through K. This is also where you will find the dissertations and theses of past graduates. Audiobooks are located on the 3rd and 4th floors according to their Library of Congress call numbers.

The library's journals and magazines ("periodicals") are separated into current issues and bound volumes and shelved in different places on the 2nd floor. Both current issues and the bound volumes are shelved in Library of Congress call number order and you will need to look the call number up in the catalog to find the title you are looking for. Current issues do not circulate. Bound volumes circulate to faculty for one week only.

The Reference collection serves as a non-circulating resource that supports the teaching and research missions of the University. In addition, the Reference collection functions as a major information center for the region and includes selected sources that are basic to general knowledge.

The Reference collection consists of sources that are consulted for factual, bibliographic, or directional information. With few exceptions, reference sources are not intended to be read in their entirety, since dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, almanacs, and other "generalities" make up much of this part of the collection. The Reference collection contains printed materials and other electronic sources, including access to many important reference resources now available online.

The Pace Library's media collection is housed on the second floor of the Pace library across from the elevators. This collection includes educational titles pertinent to the University's academic departments and support the curriculum of the University of West Florida's well as influential (contemporary and classic) films.

The New Book collection is located on the first floor of the John C. Pace Library, between the main staircase and the elevators. The collection includes titles acquired by the Library that have been printed in the last two years. When searching in the catalog, titles shelved in this collection will appear with a location of "JCPL New Book Display - 1st Floor".

The University of West Florida Libraries are proud to maintain collections that reflect the scholarship of faculty members at the University. To this end, the Libraries purchase publications by University faculty for both the circulating collections and the University Archives. Copies of recent faculty publications are on display in the new book display area on the first floor of John C. Pace Library (across from the classroom).

If you are a faculty member with an upcoming publication, please notify the liaison for your subject area to be sure that we include your work in our collections.

Microform is a generic term for all media used to store greatly reduced text or graphic images, usually on film or paper. These images can be magnified, then viewed, copied, or scanned with special microform equipment. Until recently, microform has been the only convenient and economical way to reproduce large collections of primary source material. It continues to offer access to many thousands of texts that have not been digitized and probably will not be. The collection at the Pace Library contains the following common formats:

• Microfilm: a continuous roll of positive or negative 16mm or 35mm photographic film.
• Microfiche: a card-shaped sheet of photographic film, usually 3" x 5" or 4" x 6".
• Microopaque: a sheet of opaque material such as card stock, either 6" x 9" (microprint) or 3" x 5" (microcard.).

There are 2 digital microform readers available for use on the 2nd floor. Library patrons have the option of saving the image (or text) and emailing it to themselves or they can print it to a designated printer within the library.  Note: If you need to read micro-opaque items you must use the right microfilm reader machine on the second floor.

Some examples of microform collections available include:

• American Periodical Series. This is a collection of 1100 American journals of every sort published from 1741 until 1900. These include political, religious, literary, general interest and some 20 journals aimed at women. A small number of journals were published in German and French for readers of those languages in the U.S.
• College catalog collection.
• Prime Minister's correspondence : Sir Robert Peel, 1841-1846.
• Early American Newspapers. Includes the Boston News-Letter (1704), the Georgia Gazette (1763), The New-York Mercury (1769) and the Providence Gazette (1795) among others.

The University of West Florida serves as a selective depository for both United States government publications and Florida state publications. The collection includes print and electronic resources and is designed to support the research needs of the university community and the general public. 

Weeding and deselection are subject to Federal Depository Library rules and standards and undertaken in coordination with the State Depository Library of Florida. The collection contains materials published by the U.S. government and the State of Florida. Additionally, local government publications of significant historic interest to Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, and the West Florida region are preserved in the University Archives. 

The libraries house two Juvenile collections - one on the second floor of the Pace library and one in the Professional Studies Library. The Juvenile collection is housed on the second floor of the Pace library. This collection consists of print materials for children and young adults. It serves primarily to meet the instructional needs of undergraduate and graduate students, especially those in the teacher education program.

The collection includes fiction and non-fiction titles for pre-K through twelfth grade. Special emphasis is placed on acquiring subject-specific literature and outstanding examples of each genre and subject area. Books receiving awards presented by the Association for Library Services to Children and the Young Adult Library Services Association, such as the Caldecott, Newberry, and Coretta Scott King awards are purchased each year when funds are available.

Fiction selections include literature, novels, junior novels, poetry, and drama. Non-fiction works are acquired selectively to provide representative works in various subject areas.

Picture books, wordless books, alphabet books, counting books, Mother Goose, nursery rhymes, and folklore are included in the Juvenile collection.

The leisure reading collection is located on a freestanding rack near the Reference desk on the first floor of the Pace library. This collection consists of fiction and non-fiction titles from a variety of genres.  You can browse available titles via our online catalog list.