The history of Kanagawa University Library begins with the school library of Yokohama College. Kanagawa University Library was established at the same time as Kanagawa University established under the reformed education system in 1949.
The present Yokohama Library building was established in 1980 as a part of commemorative project of the 50th anniversary of foundation. Hiratsuka Library was established at the same time as Hiratsuka Campus opened in 1989 and it expanded to the present library building 2010. In 2004, the underground library of Building 23, which houses humanities and social science journals, was set up in the Yokohama Library. Moreover, along with the establishment of Minato Mirai Campus, Minato Mirai Library opened in 2021, and Yokohama Library reopened after renovation in 2022.

Kanagawa University boasts a diverse collection of written works befitting a comprehensive university, with library holdings that span philosophy, art, literature, history, and all other fields addressed in the university’s academic programs.
The three Libraries house a combined total of approximately 1.5 million items. Journals we have are approximately 12,000 titles, excluding e-journals. We also have a large number of audiovisual materials including video materials including DVDs, recorded materials including CDs, and other micro materials. We have some special collections. One of them, the Yamaguchi Collection donated by former Dean of the Department of Economics, Dr. Shigeru Yamaguchi, consists of 2,400 books including some very rare original French books, mainly on financial matters.
In addition, we own other rare resources such as collections of studies of Japan from the end of the shogunate in the mid-19th century, old encyclopedias from around the world, and 1,500 lithographs of the Paris Commune of 1871.

The Library OPAC search engine can be viewed on LAN and the internet, which allows the library website to be accessed from anywhere in the world.
We also provide various online services with databases such as EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Web of Science, etc. If the material isn't available within OPAC, other resources can be explored to satisfy your request.
Moreover, we intensively manage the bibliographic data of the five major research institutes of our university. Library collections are made available to the wider community through the university’s own community access programs.

This picture is a bookplate from the rare collection the library holds.
A bookplate known as EX LIBRIS in Latin. The earliest known of bookplates are German bookplates in mid-15th century, around 1470. People whose beloved collections printed or decorated label pasted into their collections often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. And therefore, bookplates bear a motif relating to the book's owner, such as a device name motto and aphorism. Today, a lot of bookplates are recognized high artistic value.
The bookplate of Kanagawa University Library was designed by Masamichi, Takahashi who graduated from Faculty of Economics in 1973. The Sphinx with an ambiguous topic that is indistinguishable from men or women and a beach are described in the picture. And also, the seashell that reminds the painting of “The Birth of Venus” by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli is described in the center of this picture. The seashell on the beach expressed experiencing the culture of many foreign countries and the Sphinx like a giant expressed desiring future for own will.