George A. Smathers Libraries - Collection Strengths

Collection Strengths

Together the Libraries hold over 5,300,000 cataloged volumes, 7,200,000 microforms, 1,000,000 documents, 550,000 maps and images, and 20,000 computer data sets.

The libraries have built a number of nationally significant research collections primarily in support of graduate research programs. Among them are collections discussed above, i.e., the Latin American Collection, the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica, and the Map and Imagery Library. Others include the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature which is among the world's greatest collections of literature for children (Smathers Library, Special Collections); and the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History, which is the state's preeminent Floridiana collection, holding the largest collection of Spanish colonial documents concerning southeastern United States in North America as well as rich archives of prominent Florida politicians, (Smathers Library, Special Collections).

The Libraries also have particularly strong holdings in architectural preservation and 18th century American architecture (AFA), late 19th and early 20th century German state documents from 1850–1940, Latin American art and architecture, (AFA and Smathers Library), national bibliographies (Smathers Library, Reference), U.S. Census information, especially in electronic format (Marston Science Library, Documents), the rural sociology of Florida and tropical and subtropical agriculture collections (Marston Science Library), English and American Literature, and U.S. Documents (Marston Science Library, Documents).