Materials in Slavic and Eastern European languages and materials in Asian and Middle Eastern languages are collected only in cooperation with the Slavic and Eastern European Library and the Asian Library, respectively. The emphasis is on the 20th century, particularly the current decade. The emphasis of the education collection is placed on the U.S. school system and American educational practice and theory. There are extensive holdings relating to Australian, British, and to a slightly lesser extent, Canadian education. Materials dealing with present practices in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America are collected selectively.
Emphasis is on scholarly treatment rather than popularization, textbooks, and children's literature.
The Undergraduate Library normally collects more popular treatments and the Education and Social Sciences Library collects children's literature for its School Collection. Emphasis of the collection is on current practice and theory as well as on those aspects of past practice and theory which are still influential at the present time. Preference is given to histories of education in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom and to materials which treat broader aspects in particular countries or which compare or provide information useful to comparative studies of the educational systems of various countries. Biographies of influential educators are included in the collection. Educational psychology materials are also acquired as part of the education collection.