The NOAA Central Library hosts a collection of Rare Books and Archival material, including:

NOAA's Collection of Rare 19th Century Oceanography Books

This collection features 19th century rare books that are part of the larger NOAA Central Library Special Collections Room and which capture the spirit and accomplishments ofthe formative years of oceanography. The volumes are diverse, including official accounts and results of oceanographic cruises, descriptions of traditional and new technologies, personal reminiscences, the first English-language textbook of oceanography, and even a German-language volume selected for the beauty of its presentation, as much as for its content. Many of the authors were among the "founding fathers" of modern oceanography.

Treasures of the NOAA Central Library

The Library's Special Collections include works by prominent authors in the history of science whose publications are bench marks in the evolution of meteorology, mathematics, astronomy, and physics. Authors include Hippocrates, Aristotle, Claudius Ptolemy, Euclid, Saint Albert Magnus, Sir Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Evangelista Torricelli, Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, Daniel Bernoulli, Benjamin Franklin, Guiseppe Toaldo, and Michael Faraday.