Rare Books & Special Collections // Hesburgh Libraries // University of Notre Dame

Rare Books & Special Collections

For fully vaccinated Notre Dame faculty, staff, students and visitors, masking is now optional indoors on campus. Those students, faculty, staff and visitors who are not fully vaccinated must wear masks inside campus buildings, including in Rare Books & Special Collections spaces. Anyone who would prefer to wear a mask in any setting is welcome to do so.

The Special Collections reading room is currently open by appointment only, but the exhibit room and reference collection remain open to all during our regular hours (Monday - Friday, 9:30am - 4:30pm).

The University of Notre Dame Special Collections is open to the public and welcomes researchers from both on and off campus. An active program of class visits, exhibitions, and workshops highlight Special Collections' vital role in teaching and research at Notre Dame and beyond.

Our collections offer more than 132,000 volumes of printed books and periodicals and over 6,000 linear feet of non-book materials including manuscripts, printed ephemera, broadsides, prints, posters, numismatics, and philately. Strengths of our holdings include: Catholic studies, Irish studies, Italian literature, Latin American and Iberian history and literature, sports and physical culture, and theology and church history.

Collections

Formats

List of Online Finding Aids

About Us

Special Collections Blog

Please visit the Special Collections at Notre Dame blog for highlights from our rich and diverse collections, news about acquisitions, events, and exhibits, information about services we offer, and behind-the-scenes looks at the work of our curators and conservators.