The collection has shown increases along the lines of the development of the program. Participation in EBO programs has contributed to the collection in recent years. Reference works and a core collection are held in the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library. The majority is in the Bookstacks, the English Library, the Slavic and East European Library, Reference Library, Classics Library, the Asian Library, Rare Book and Special Collections Library, and Undergraduate Library also have relevant materials. All languages other than the languages handled by the Slavic and East European Library and the Asian Library.
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. Appropriate primary and secondary works, and bibliographic, and reference materials are acquired. Ordinarily, dissertations, theses and translations are selectively collected. Audio-visual materials are normally collected selectively. New and revised editions or important works are purchased when new explanatory or primary material is introduced.