Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Added by Karen Huffman, last edited by Karen Huffman on Apr 14, 2008  (view change)

Welcome to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries!

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries occupy a unique niche in the library landscape. Situated at the center of the world's largest museum complex, the Libraries are a vital part of the research, exhibition, and educational enterprise of the Institution. We are giving you only a brief glimpse of some of the twenty libraries; each resides in a museum or research environment, surrounded by Smithsonian experts who work closely with the librarians.  The Smithsonian's library collections number over 1.5 million volumes and numerous electronic journals and databases in the sciences, arts and humanities.  The collections include nearly 50,000 rare books and manuscripts; over 400,000 pieces of historical trade literature, and the world's fairs and international expositions collection.  The Libraries offers its treasures to the nation through book exhibitions, lectures, special tours, and its premier website, the Galaxy of Knowledge,found at www.sil.si.edu.

Come explore and discover the SI Libraries! You'll be glad you did.

Smithsonian Institution Libraries
(view as slideshow)
         
  Nancy E. Gwinn, Director, Smithsonian Libraries.   Scanning a rare volume in the Digital Imaging Center.   Repairing a map in the Book Conservation Laboratory.   Scholars visit the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History to consult most of the major works published between the 15th and 19th centuries in the fields of botany, geology, mineral sciences, paleontology and zoology.  
 
         
  The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library offers an impressive collection of materials including exhibition and auction catalogs; art publications; and over 13,000 slides of artworks by contemporary artists, not part of the museum's collections.   Scientists, conservators and chemists from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute are frequent users of the Museum Support Center Library, located in Suitland, MD.   The Museum Studies & Reference Library houses the Smithsoniana collection - material published by and about the Smithsonian Institution since its inception in the 19th century.   The National Air and Space Museum Library collection includes rare aeronautic and space treasures, including early works on ballooning, the Bella Landauer Collection of Sheet Music and sound recordings on aviation.  
 
         
  The National Museum of African Art has fascinating collections on classical and modern African visual arts with strong supporting collections on African history, archaeology, religion, ethnography, oral tradition, musicology, photography and cinema.   The Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library can locate information on research topics ranging from major American painters and sculptors to 18th century costumes or 19th century buttons depicted by American portrait painters.   The collections of the National Museum of American History Library document the story of American domestic life, with vast resources on music, textiles, furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, folk arts and photographic history.   Curators rely on the Vine Deloria, Jr. Library, National Museum of the American Indian, located in the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, MD, to research little known individuals or items of material culture and provide access to arcane sources.  
 
         
  When the National Postal Museum Library opened its doors in 1993, one of the largest collections of philatelic literature became available not only to Smithsonian curators, authors, history buffs and avid stamp collectors.   Located on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, in Edgewater, MD, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has served as a natural laboratory for intensive long-term ecological research for more than 25 years.   Located in Panama, the Earl S. Tupper Tropical Sciences Library serves scientists and graduate students working in the field and in the laboratories of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which is dedicated to understanding biological diversity.   The Anacostia Community Museum Library maintains maintains a collection strong in slavery, the African- American experience in the Upper South, African-American women and social and political concerns within the African-American community.  
 
         
  When a Smithsonian curator, preparing an exhibition on Hawaiian history wanted to learn about a canoe that Queen Kapi'olani presented to the museum in 1887, the answers were found in the John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology.   Considered the premier design library in the United States, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Library has provided researchers with unique resources on historical and contemporary American and European design for more than a century.   Visit our virtual collection: Smithsonian Institution Libraries home page.   Discover more about our online collections before stopping in for a visit.  
 


Additional information

  • Quick links:
  • Susan R. Frampton, Program Coordinator, Smithsonian Institution Libraries (Email: framptons@si.edu | Phone: 202.633.1699).
  • PO Box 37012
    National Museum of Natural History
    10th and Constitution Avenues NW
    Room 27 Mez MRC 154
    Washington DC 20013-7012

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