The Latin American collection encompasses over 400,000 print volumes and 1,500 serial titles, along with manuscripts, oral histories, maps, prints, microform materials, music recordings, films and documentaries, and an increasing variety of electronic resources.

The Iberian collection (holdings of titles published in Spain and Portugal) exceed 75,000 volumes, in addition to comprehensive collections of works about these countries published in other Western European languages.

The Library collects materials published in and about Latin America, Spain and Portugal across many disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. The collection is strong in coverage of Mexico, Brazil, the Spanish Caribbean, and the countries of the Southern Cone. Subject strengths include architecture, economic development, history, languages and literature, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Materials are acquired in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and in other European and indigenous Latin American languages.

Collection Development Policy Statements

• Iberian Studies

• Latin American Studies

• Spanish & Portuguese Language & Literature

The Latin American & Iberian collections in print are distributed throughout the many libraries of Columbia University Libraries. Materials are primarily located in:

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Architecture, urban planning, archaeology, and fine arts

Butler Library
History, literature, philosophy, and religion

Herbert H. Lehman Library
Social sciences and journalism

Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics
Business, economics, economic development

Additionally, other libraries on campus hold significant Latin American collections, including the Law School Library, The Burke Library (Union Theological Seminary), and the Health Sciences Library. 

Use the online catalog, CLIO, to search across all libraries except Columbia Law School and Teachers College Library, which have their own catalogs.

Research Guides provide a curated introduction to researching at Columbia.

Beyond Columbia

Columbia's membership in LAMP and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) allows readers access to microforms of retrospective and hard-to-obtain journals, newspapers, and other research materials, which may be borrowed via Interlibrary Loan. Consult CRL's catalog. Borrow Direct allows Columbia affiliates to borrow books from several major Northeastern academic libraries within four working days. Interlibrary Loan provides access to materials held at libraries throughout the country and provides electronic delivery of journal articles for journals not available at Columbia.