The Library at Otis College of Art & Design is a relaxed atmosphere where creative students meet, study, browse, and find inspiration. A collection of 45,000 books is focused primarily in broad areas of art and design, with an emphasis on a diversity of cultural practices, art history, and contemporary art and artists. Exhibition catalogs are integrated into the circulating collection. There are more than 5,000 videos/DVDs which circulate.

Currently the library subscribes to 150 periodicals and maintain s bound issues of scores of titles going back to the 1940s

The Library also subscribes to 14 online databases which include the full text of thousands of additional periodicals as well as e-books and images.

Among the holdings are a special collection of 3,000 artists' books which include works by important contemporary artists such as Ed Ruscha, Joseph Beuys, and Vito Acconci. In 1997, they were evaluated by art consultant who rated the collection as excellent for its size and scope.

Image collections are handled within the Visual Resources Center. Subscriptions to two online image databases are maintained. In 2001, the DID (Digital Image Database) presentation software was installed and is now in use by most art history professors. The art history image bank to support teaching now numbers 20,000 images.

The Library also maintains the Otis Collections, a web database of digital images by, for and about
the Otis Community, which includes the Otis Archives and images of the Artists' Books Collections, as well as student and faculty work.

The Otis curriculum supports an Information Literacy requirement. Faculty collaborate with the Library to implement research components in specific courses, the sum total of which assures that students demonstrate requisite competencies in the location and evaluation of information resources. The Library maintains a website with interactive tutorials and pathfinders for the purpose of teaching information literacy. It also serves as a gateway to resources for students and faculty. Otis librarians conduct tours, speak to classes, and teach students one-on-one.

Besides acting as champion for information literacy across campus, the Library Director serves as an active member of the Chairs Council and the Academic Assembly. She is a member of various college committees, including Curriculum and Web Planning and often attends Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Meetings. She currently co-chairs the Technology Planning Committee.

The Librarian represents Otis in two consortia of library directors: SCELC (California private academic libraries) and AICAD (art and design school libraries). Each consortium works actively with vendors to negotiate, develop, and make affordable resources which meet the needs of academic libraries and the students they serve. As a result, the Library discovers, tests, and provides essential resources to the Otis community.