Sawyer Library

Hollander Hall and its counterpart Shapiro Hall were built in 2009 and together, with the historic Stetson Hall, define a campus green. Sawyer Quad, named after one of our two libraries, houses the college's humanities and social sciences programs along with its central library.

Both Hollander Hall and Shapiro Hall earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold status. 80% of the building receives direct sunlight, which in turn saves energy.

Williams has a very interdisciplinary focus in our curriculum, including many interdisciplinary programs. Some examples include: Comparative Literature, Global Studies, Leadership Studies, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, Latino/a Studies, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Neuroscience. Professors from different disciplines come together to lead the department/program, and it is not uncommon for professors to team-teach courses with faculty in other disciplines/departments.

The student academic experience at Williams reflects our emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. Professors understand that they can have a biology major in their women’s and gender studies class, or a history major in a drawing class. Our students become better critical thinkers and, throughout their time at Williams, fulfill the vision of the liberal arts education.

Sawyer Library reopened in 2014. The new iteration of the library, like Hollander and Shapiro Halls, is a LEED certified building. The new library was designed with a focus on people and accessibility, so it holds a variety of study spaces to match students’ needs (bean bags, personal carrels, study rooms, etc.). Group study rooms help facilitate the collaboration encouraged by our professors. In addition to housing our humanities library, Sawyer is home to the College Archives, the Chapin Library of Rare Books, and a branch of the Office of Information Technology (OIT).

Chapin Library has original copies of the four founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights) which are utilized by classes in all disciplines. Students are able to handle the rare documents with the supervision of faculty and/or the librarians.

Our library has one million print books plus over 300,000 ebooks. Students, faculty and staff also have access to materials beyond Williams through the Boston Library Consortium, New England Express, and hundreds of electronic journal subscriptions and article databases.

Other features include:
•Faculty offices
•Virtual Reality room
•Design Thinking Lab
•Equipment Rental (recording equipment, speakers, etc.)
•3D Printing
•Research Help Desk
•Three classrooms
•Videoconferencing classrooms • Computer labs and public computers
•Open food policy 22
•Recording facilities for audio and visual recordings

Students have the ability to schedule one-on-one time with research librarians who can guide them through navigating library resources and identifying the best resources for research projects and papers.

The student-staffed Writing Workshop provides students with assistance at any stage of the writing process: from brainstorming to final drafts. Sawyer is open 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. throughout the school year, and is a 24/7 study space is available to students as well.