The collection was organized in 1964 by Jean B. Lang, who was the curator until 1991, and contains historical and genealogical information from the Western New York area, with an emphasis on Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Monroe, and Steuben counties. The Western New York Historical Collection is also the official repository for the Alfred Historical Society. The room is open for research during library hours . The materials housed in this collection must be used in the Library. Photocopying is available.
Some indexing is available.
Much of the Sabbath Register and the Sabbath Recorder is also available on microfilm, with a partial index. These two newspapers list many marriages and deaths of Seventh Day Baptists from 1840 to the present. Early area atlases are stored on the oversize shelves under the bound newspapers. Historical and topographical maps are in the map case. The vertical files contain clippings, pamphlets, documents, etc. filed by subject.