Rush Rhees Library: Collections
The library collections in Rush Rhees date from 1850 and have been built over the course of more than 150 years in support of teaching and research at the University of Rochester. The Rush Rhees Stacks alone contain nearly 3 million items comprising River Campus Libraries' main circulating collection of books and journals in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to our physical collections which include books, journals, microforms, CD's and DVD's and manuscripts, the library provides increasing access to thousands of licensed databases, ebooks, journals, data and streamed media.
The Rush Rhees Library building houses 7 major collections.
Art and Music Library Located on the ground floor of Rush Rhees, Art/Music houses approximately 75,000 books on visual arts, art theory, architecture, music and photography as well as thousands of music scores, CD's and related material.
Business & Government Information Library (BGIL) Located on the 2nd floor of Rush Rhees, BGIL provides research assistance for business and government information. Notable collections include historical SEC documents from 1960-1995. As a federal depository library, BGIL houses a collection of physical government documents and provides guides to online government publications.
Koller-Collins Center for English Studies Located on the 4th floor of Rush Rhees, Koller-Collins was named in honor of English Professors Kathrine Koller and Rowland Collins. The center contains a core collection of about ten thousand primary texts in all areas of British and American literature, with special holdings in the works of the Elizabethan dramatists, and reference material for literary studies. It is a non-circulating collection.
Multimedia Center (MMC) Located on the ground floor of Rush Rhees Library, the MMC provides access to an extensive collection of films on DVD and videocassette, as well as language learning reserve items including textbooks, CD's, International satellite programming, language learning materials. MMC houses the Film and Media Studies Collection, a research collection that circulates only to River Campus faculty and graduate students with special permission. In addition to its popular collections of DVD's and videos, MMC also provides assistance with multimedia formats for faculty, students, and staff members, including streaming media, text-to-speech, and braille.
Newspaper and Microform Center Located on the second floor of Rush Rhees Library, the Center shares space with the Business and Government Information Library. It provides a comfortable reading area for international print newspapers and news magazines as well as access to thousands of microform. Requests to scan any microform content may be made at the service desk or through a Voyager record.
Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation Located on the 2nd floor of Rush Rhees, the 110,000 volume collection ranges from incunabula (books printed prior to 1501) to modern first editions. The 430 manuscript collections inlude the papers of William Henry Seward, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George Eastman, Jerre Mangione, and John Gardner. Prints, maps, photographs, broadsides, and printed ephemera are also available.
Rossell Hope Robbins Library The core of this medieval studies collection of more than 20,000 volumes was donated by noted Middle English scholar Rossell Hope Robbins and Helen Ann Mins Robbins. The Robbins Library contains comprehensive holdings in all aspects of Middle English literature, as well as significant holdings in Old English, Anglo-Norman, and medieval French literature; medieval history, philosophy, theology, and art; manuscript studies; witchcraft; and Arthurian and Robin Hood studies. The collection is non-circulating and is located on the 4th floor of Rush Rhees.
Building the Collections
Working within the framework of current budgets, 22 subject librarians select materials in support of the research and teaching needs of the River Campus faculty and students. This activity is coordinated by the Head of Collection Development.
Recommend a Purchase
All requests to purchase material are appreciated and will receive serious and prompt consideration. Follow this link to make a request.
Book Donations
The Library receives and processes thousands of gifts each year both for the collections and for joint booksales with the Friends of the Libraries. Follow this link for more detail.
Helen Anderson
Head, Collection Development
RRL 355
River Campus LIbraries
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0055
handerson@library.rochester.edu
(585) 275-3302
