About the Planning Library

The F. Stuart Chapin, Jr. Planning Library houses a working collection of materials on all aspects of city and regional planning. Particular strengths include the areas of housing, real estate, community development, economic development, land use and environmental planning, coastal zone management, and transportation.

As a unit of the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Chapin Planning Library serves the study and research needs of the faculty and students, especially those in the Department of City and Regional Planning, and provides services to the greater planning community. The library is open to the public.

Our Special Collections

In addition to the Chapin Planning Library's regular holdings, we also house two special collections of materials on local city and regional planning.

The Chapel Hill/Carrboro Collection and Soul City Collection include a variety of items that have been produced by various planning agencies or organizations. These collections are composed of travel brochures, comprehensive plans for towns or cities, community development information, environmental impact statements, city or town ordinances, and a variety of other items that are produced by state and/or local government agencies or private agencies.

All items in our special collections are available for use in the library only. For additional information about using these items, please contact us.

About F. Stuart Chapin

F. Stuart Chapin, Jr. was a director of planning for the city of Greensboro and a regional planner with the Tennessee Valley Authority. He joined UNC-Chapel Hill in 1949 and was the director of the urban studies program at UNC from 1957 until 1962, when he founded the department's research center, the Center for Urban and Regional Studies.

Stuart Chapin is currently a Professor Emeritus at the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 1992, Chapin and his wife established the F. Stuart Chapin, Jr. and Mildred L. Chapin Endowment Fund, which supports the library in the Department of City and Regional Planning. It is named in Stuart Chapin's honor.