Reading Room Access: The RBML reading room is open Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm by advance appointment only to external visitors and current Columbia students, faculty and staff whose individual research requires consulting RBML materials.

Reading room seats are limited and appointment slots are frequently filled a month in advance. Bookings are are first-come, first served and we cannot guarantee the availability of preferred dates/times. For more information on booking an appointment, visit our Appointment FAQ page.

See the Plan Your Visit Page for additional instructions on planning your visit. We invite all users to access our Digital Collections, request reproductions, or contact us for alternatives to in-person visits.

Order Reproductions: Limited reproductions of materials may be requested. See our Orders & Services page for details.

• Alma Mater
• Alumni Registers
• Booklets, Guides & Campus Viewbooks
• Coeducation at Columbia
  
• Honors & Prizes
• Media
• Online Exhibits
  
• President Profiles
• Publications
• Research Guides
  
• Timelines & Histories
  
• University Documents
  
• Web Archives
  

• CLIO
  The Columbia University Libraries online catalogue is a primary tool for locating archival materials.
• Archival Collections Portal
  This portal provides access to records of archival collections at Columbia University Libraries, including finding aids, collection descriptions and available digital content, such as online exhibits and images.
• Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative
  This cooperative pulls on archival records from repositories across New York State. Here you can search the collections available at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, including the Columbia University Archives holdings. This tool is particularly helpful since it searches not just the front matter in our finding aids but also the collection inventories or folder lists.
• Oral History Portal
  Use this portal to explore the collections of the Columbia Center for Oral History (CCOH) Archives at RBML.

The University Archives is collecting materials to document the coronavirus pandemic. We are looking to hear from a diverse set of voices about your lived experience and to learn about your new everyday lives. Historians of the future will want to know how we spent our days during these tumultuous times. We invite you to be an active participant in documenting our community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please visit our Documenting COVID-19 information page to find out how you can contribute and participate.