City West UniSA Library

The UniSA City West Library holds the best visual arts collection along with communication, marketing, business, and law sources. The library is most easily located from Hindley Street.
This four level building is full of resources including high demand books, journals, computer pools, study rooms, printers, copiers, and the list goes on. There are also some great access areas available specificly for the disabled, which is great. The wi-​fi can be confusing to connect to and you may need to use the security phones in the computer barns or ask at the front desk for assistance.
This library is a great place to study; there are many different areas with desks and powerpoints, study rooms that can be booked for group meetings, and even «quiet zones» where phones and talking are not allowed.
The library can be a little daunting the first time you go in due to it’s large size and huge resources. If you head to the lift area there will be signs noting what the different levels hold and they will help direct you. If you’re still lost, the help desk staff are fantastic and they will point you in the right direction.
A little note, the returns chute is on the outside of the building and opening hours often fluctuate so be sure to check the weekly updated hours online or they will be listed out the front of the library entrance.

While the City West UniSA Library has little of the charm of the Barr Smith, it does have one of the best visual art book collections in South Australia. Inherited from the now amalgamated South Australian School of Art, the collection has been growing since the school’s opening in 1865. You can trace the history of many South Australian artists through the collection of exhibition catalogues and gallery publications. There is also an impressive range of art historical books and contemporary art books. The library also respond positively to book requests — if there is a great art book you think the library should have they will usually order it in. You can also read past students masters papers and honours papers.
The library is spread across four floors, with many computer areas which seem to increase ever year over summer. It isn’t necessarily the best place to study — there isn’t really a silent study area where people are actually very quiet. You can book rooms to do presentations in, and there is also a computer training room for tutorials. As well as visual arts, there is impressive architecture, design and economics sections. Opening hours vary, sometimes the library is open as late as midnight during university semesters. If you’re an alumni you can pay a small fee to keep borrowing here, which is pretty damn worth it if you are an artist — art books are expensive and artists are poor.