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Mission Statement

The Special Collections Department arranges, describes, houses, and provides access to the rare books, manuscripts, and special collections held in the two dedicated special collections libraries of Smithsonian Institution Libraries: the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology and the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History. Access is provided to Smithsonian Institution curators, researchers, and other staff as well as outside scholars by appointment.

The Special Collections Department also provides assistance and expertise to the other Smithsonian libraries that have rare book and special collections holdings as part of their larger collections.

General Description

The Special Collections of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries are among its most intriguing and unusual assets. They comprise books, journals, and pamphlets as well as manuscripts, maps, prints, medals and other objects. Because of their rarity, cost, beauty, unusual content, form, or physical condition, these works demand the best possible storage environment and highest security. The Special Collections Department libraries contain 40,000 rare and valuable volumes and 2,000 manuscript groups, the majority dating from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. Other components consist of the world's fairs and international expositions collection which consists of publications documenting the fairs from 1851 to 1920 and the surviving volumes of James Smithson's personal library. The collections are housed in two Smithsonian libraries:

• the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology in the National Museum of American History

• the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History in the National Museum of Natural History

The other rare book and special collections in the Smithsonian Libraries represent such diverse research interests as early aeronautics, European decorative arts and design, and Asian art. For more information about these other special collections, click here.

Staff and Contact Information

The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology

Phone Number: 202.633.3872
Fax: 202.633.9102
Email: DibnerLibrary@si.edu

Ronald S. Brashear, Head of Special Collections and Curator of Science and Technology Rare Books (brashearr@si.edu)
Kirsten van der Veen, Library Technician

Mailing Address:
The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
NMAH 1041, MRC 672
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History

Phone Number: 202.633.1184
Fax: 202.633.0219
Email: libmail@si.edu

Leslie K. Overstreet, Curator of Natural History Rare Books
Daria Wingreen, Library Technician

Mailing Address:
Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
NHB CE-G15, MRC 154
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012