This study examined the relationship between reading comprehension and reading vocabulary and five dimensions of library anxiety (i.e., barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, knowledge of the library, and mechanical barriers). Participants were 45 African-American graduate students from various disciplines who were administered the Library Anxiety Scale and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that reading comprehension and reading vocabulary were related statistically significant to barriers with staff, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Results indicate that for African-America female graduate students, reading ability may play an important role in the library context. Moreover, the fact that reading comprehension and reading vocabulary scores predict anxiety stemming from knowledge of the library in the opposite direction to the anxiety induced by affective barriers and comfort with the library suggests that poor reading ability can serve both as a risk factor and a protective factor with respect to library anxiety. (Contains 60 references.) (Author/MES)