Rare Book & Manuscript Library

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is Columbia University’s principal repository for special collections. We collect, preserve, describe, promote, and provide access to the material evidence of diverse individuals and activities in alignment with the University’s research and teaching mission. We build and steward deep collections in select subject areas and connect them to a global audience through reference, teaching, exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Learn more about what we collect and RBML's history.

Please note the RBML reading rooms are open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm by advance appointment only. See more information about planning your visit below.

Log into your Special Collections Research Account

Rare Book & Manuscript Library Staff

Courtney Chartier

Director, Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

cc4785@columbia.edu

(212) 854-2232
Butler Library - 6M58 Butler Library

Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 6th Floor East Butler Library

Tara C. Craig

Head of Public Services

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

tcc46@columbia.edu

(212) 854-4051
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 6th Floor East Butler Library

Jane Gorjevsky

Head, Collections Management

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

jg2138@columbia.edu

(212) 854-8937
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 6th Floor East Butler Library

Kevin Schlottmann

Head of Archives Processing

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

kws2126@columbia.edu

(212) 854-8483
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 801 Butler Library

Jocelyn K. Wilk

University Archivist

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

jkw19@columbia.edu

212-854-1338
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 6th Floor East Butler Library

View all RBML Staff

Request Materials & Plan Your Visit

Appointments are required to access RBML reading rooms

PLAN AHEAD: RBML reading rooms are open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm by advance appointment. Reading room appointments must be booked at least 7 days in advance and up to 90 days in advance.

Appointments are are first-come, first served and we cannot guarantee the availability of preferred dates/times.

Request materials and make an appointment

We invite all users to access our digital collections, request reproductions, or contact us for alternatives to in-person visits.

We can work with faculty to provide archival instruction sessions related to coursework.

Services & Tools

Access library services to support your research and studies

View All Services & Tools

Collections

Discover rare and unique research materials in RBML

Rare book and manuscript collections at Columbia date to the founding of the University. The Rare Book & Manuscript Library collects materials in many different formats across many subject areas and supports researchers from around the world.

Public Programs, Exhibits, & Workshops

Public Programs
Exhibitions

Visiting Exhibition Galleries:
RBML exhibitions are available during our regular business hours, Monday through Friday, from 10am to 4pm.
Non-Columbia ID holders, please reach out to the contact below to arrange for campus access.

Courtney Chartier

Director, Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Rare Book & Manuscript Library

cc4785@columbia.edu

(212) 854-2232
Butler Library - 6M58 Butler Library

Rare Book & Manuscript Library - 6th Floor East Butler Library

News

View news and announcements from RBML

In “CONTEXT: Art, Books, and Freedom,” an ongoing exhibition in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, artist and curator Meg Hitchcock brings together 15 artists whose work uses books as "means to question its own authority within the context of a revered liberal arts library."

A football championship revisited: University archivists share a "'you-gotta-be-kidding' coincidence in Columbia football history" and the Lions' two shared Ivy League Championships - the first in 1961 and, more recently, in 2024.

The diaries of painter Max Beckmann are now fully available online for the first time (in German): As the home of 10 Beckmann diaries, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library was pleased to contribute scans of the materials in its holdings to the project.

View the digital archives of two vital University publications, Spectator and The Record, in a collection that contains nearly 18,000 issues, including editions that date to 1877, and total more than 136,000 digitized pages.

The latest exhibition on view in Butler Library, "Streets Taken," features photographs by prominent New York photojournalist Edward Schwartz from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library alongside new works by MFA Visual Arts student Francisco Javier Ramírez.

Currently on view in Butler Library, "Streets Taken" places the photographs and archival materials of Edward Schwartz from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library in conversation with new works from MFA candidate Francisco Javier Ramírez.

An impressive new acquisition by the University Archives is a 1775 King's College diploma belonging to John William Livingston, which also provides insights into the College presidency of Rev. Myles Cooper.

The Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) offers a number of resources to help understand the range of oral history methods and primary sources available to the Columbia community.