The Slavic and East European Collections support PhD-level programs and comprise resources in English, West European languages and the vernacular for undergraduate and graduate students, advanced research, and instructional needs. The UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries hold an excellent collection of materials in Slavic literature and linguistics, Soviet and Russian history, economics, and political science. Limited acquisitions are made in Russian and East European art, music, history of education, library science, math/physics and other sciences. Soviet and Russian studies of China, Latin America, United States, and Africa are also acquired. The geographic coverage of imprint areas includes the territories of the former Soviet Union, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. Currently the Slavic and East European holdings at UNC-Chapel Hill are approximately 500,000 volumes (monographs, serials and microforms). If you would like to learn more about the proportional distribution of materials, visit the Composition of the Slavic and East European Collections site.

The Slavic and East European collections are fully integrated into the general collection. Most of the materials are housed in Davis Library; however, Wilson and several departmental libraries also hold some titles in Slavic and East European area studies. Therefore, it is highly advisable to begin searching for materials at the UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries Catalog, which represents the UNC-Chapel Hill collection in its entirety, with a few exceptions for pre-1976 materials not yet included in the online catalog. For these materials please check the Card Catalog in the Reference Department Reading Room. Bibliographic information for materials in Cyrillic script is entered in the catalog in a romanized form. If you are not sure how romanization works, consult the Library of Congress Transliteration Tables.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries have vast electronic resources which are available to all walk-in patrons with very few exceptions when access is restricted by the provisions of license agreements. Most of the purchased databases owned by the university are restricted to institutional affiliates by the terms of the licenses when accessed remotely, but in most instances are available when accessed from a terminal in the library. Through the UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries Catalog and main library website UNC students and faculty have full access to a large number of databases, electronic indexes, other libraries' catalogs, WorldCat and the Russian National Bibliography databases.