St. John’s College established the Greenfield Library to support the teaching and learning that occurs at the college. Students and faculty practice radical inquiry; read primary source texts in the tradition of reason; achieve literacy in verbal, mathematical, and musical texts; practice intellectual virtue in inquiry and opinion; establish habits of civic responsibility; and, on a broader scale, contribute to invigorating American education.

Student and faculty learning may also occur in the conversations taking place continually at the college in and out of the classroom, or in privately pursued reading and study. In all its activities, the library seeks to participate in the program of the college and reflect its philosophy of education.