The collection holds 193,000 volumes dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries, with several books from the 15th century. Its Jesuitica collection, containing Jesuit spirituality, history, educational philosophy and documentation, is unparalleled. Its biblical studies collection is one of the finest in any one library. 17,5000 volumes of the 193,000 make up the Rare Book collection, which is one of the most outstanding theological rare book collections in the United States. Holdings after 1988 are on computer.
All earlier holdings are in the card catalog.
Subject emphases of this collection are Catholic and Protestant theology, liturgy, church history, Bible, biblical studies, Judaism, the Reformation, philosophy, and patristics. The Washington Theological Consortium List acts as a guide to the titles in this collection. There is an in-house directory to this collection. The collection is made up primarily of texts and journals containing items such as the Woodstock Letters and L'Osservatore Romano along with other newspapers from Rome. These again reflect the interests and emphases in the books collection.