The Robert Sainsbury Library supports the research and teaching needs of the Sainsbury Research Unit (SRU) and the University. Also referred to as the SRU Library, it is a specialised library in the indigenous arts and material culture of Africa, the Pacific Region and the Americas. It includes some material on related areas, e.g. South East Asia (particularly Indonesia), and related subjects, including anthropology, archaeology, religion, and museum studies. It holds ca 22,000 volumes, AV collections and a range of journals which complement those held in the UEA Library (the Main Library).
It is located within the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVA), on the UEA campus, adjacent to the main gallery or ‘living area’. Works relating to the objects in the gallery collections are also held.
All UEA staff and students have borrowing rights from the library, however during the COVID-19 pandemic, the library is unfortunately closed to members of the public.
A selection of objects from the Sainsbury Centre Teaching Collection are exhibited in the Robert Sainsbury Library display cabinet.