Benedictine institutions have traditionally granted a place of honor to the library. Saint Vincent Library continues this tradition by providing a climate-controlled repository of the institution's bibliographic holdings and a continually growing resource in support of the College's teaching mission.

Borrowing privileges are available to enrolled students, faculty and staff members of the College. The Saint Vincent identification card serves as the Library card. Library resources are also available to the general public and to the locale religious, educational, business and social community. The Library is open to patrons eighty-three (83) hours each week when school is in session. Special hours are in effect during vacation periods and on holidays; schedule changes are posted in the Library and distributed to the offices of the College.

Private study carrels and tables are available throughout the Library. A central reference room provides access to more than 3,500 resource titles such as encyclopedias, abstracts, dictionaries, indexes, handbooks, atlases, concordances, and gazetteers.

The periodical area displays, arranged alphabetically by title 790 current periodicals subscriptions. A growing collection of audio tapes and a video collection with monitor/VCRs are included in this section. The Library also has an expanding microfilm and microfiche collections with appropriate readers and printers available for patron use.

The collection contains nearly 225,000 print volumes, 44,000 bound periodicals and approximately 100,000 microforms. The Library houses unique resources in religion and theology and special collections of Pennsylvaniana and Benedictina. The Library also has a collection of rare books housed in climate-controlled vault; access to this collection is available by special request.

The collection is classified according to the Library of Congress classification system. The Library uses a fully automated catalog (OPAC), utilizing the integrated system of Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Electronic searches are made through EBSCOhost and PsychINFO, which provide online access to an extensive list of bibliographic and full-text information. The Library currently subscribes to seven indexes/abstracts on CD-ROM and provides a computer lab and connections for laptop access campus Local-area Network and the Internet.

Materials not available at Saint Vincent Library may be requested from other libraries through the Interlibrary Loan service (ILL). This service is available through the Interlibrary Loan Coordinator or at the Circulation Desk. The Library participates in the Westmoreland County Libraries Reciprocal Borrowing Program that affords members of the Saint Vincent Community borrowing privileges at participating libraries. The Library is also a member of the Pennsylvania Library Network (PALINET), which provides students and faculty members with access to the resources of many of western Pennsylvania’s academic, public, and special libraries. Information on these programs is available at the Library Circulation Desk.