Nevada Colleges & Universities
Top college and university libraries in Nevada
These college and university libraries stand out for their collections, special collections and archives. Public access varies, so each entry says how visitors can use the library.
UNLV University LibrariesUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas
Lied Library, the main library of UNLV, opened on January 8, 2001 and contains more than one million volumes across five floors. Its Special Collections and Archives hold gaming materials, including corporate archives from gaming companies such as Harrah's, MGM, Boyd Gaming and Binion's Horseshoe, along with oral histories.
University of Nevada, Reno LibrariesUniversity of Nevada, Reno
The University Libraries in Reno include the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, the main library, and DeLaMare Library, which has a Makerspace. The Knowledge Center is home to the Basque Library and Special Collections and University Archives.
Wiener-Rogers Law LibraryUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas
The Wiener-Rogers Law Library, on the third floor of UNLV's Boyd School of Law, has collections of more than 580,000 titles in digital or physical formats and holds legal materials from all 50 states. It participates in the Federal Depository Library Program, and its staff serve the public's legal research needs as well as the law school community.
The most beautiful college library in Nevada
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge CenterUniversity of Nevada, Reno
Completed in 2008, the 295,000-square-foot Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center is the main library of the University of Nevada, Reno. It opened on August 11, 2008, replacing the Getchell library, and brings together the library's collections, hundreds of computer workstations and spaces for study and events.
Last verified: November 2, 2026. Visitor rules, hours and borrowing policies change, so check the library's website before you go.
About colleges and universities in Nevada
The State of Nevada has had a fairly recent boom of higher education institutions, with most of the public universities and colleges in the state having been founded since the 1950s. It wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that the population of Nevada began to grow significantly, and at this point the state needed to create more institutions for higher education in order to keep up with the growing population. The four private schools within the state all were formed since 1969.
The University of Nevada, Reno was the sole university and degree-granting institution in the state for many decades. It was founded in Elko in 1874, but was later moved to Reno in 1885. It is the only land-grant institution in Nevada, and is considered to be both a teaching university as well as a research university. It is mostly known for its engineering programs, specifically the study of seismology and the study of its impact on large-scale structures. Other notable programs include its journalism school, which has produced many quality journalists including 6 Pulitzer Prize winners. Actors Gabriel Damon and Grant Harvey both graduated from the university.
The next institute of higher learning to be founded in Nevada after UNR was the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This school split from UNR in 1957, and was originally called a southern extension of UNR. It eventually split completely from the university to become its own degree-granting institution. It is located in Paradise, Nevada, just outside the city of Las Vegas. This research university is home to the only law school and the only dental school in the entire state, and it draws a broad range of students. One of its other most prominent programs is its hospitality and hotel management programs. It's not surprising, considering the school is located extremely close to the famed Las Vegas Strip, home to some of the most opulent and exciting hotels in the world.
Compared to other community colleges across the country, Nevada has a very unique set up. The community colleges in this state have the ability to grant bachelor's degrees, unlike most community colleges which typically only offer two-year programs. The reason for this is because government officials recognized that Nevada has limited resources available when it comes to higher education options. There are a handful of community colleges in the state, including Nevada State College.