David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library

**Mission** The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library builds [distinctive collections](https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/collections) of original materials and preserves them for use on campus and around the world. In support of Duke University’s mission of “knowledge in service to society,” we collect a diversity of voices in a wide range of formats, with a focus on our signature areas of strength. Our innovative use of technology, expert description and cataloging, tailored reference and instructional services, and engaging public programming provide a variety of ways to discover our holdings. We invite students, scholars, and the general public to explore the world through our unique collections. **About the Library** The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library is a place of exploration and discovery. For more than 100 hundred years, scholars have used [these deep collections](https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/collections) to write new histories, explore significant lives, study ecological change, trace the evolution of texts, understand cultural shifts and create new art and literature. Over time, both our holdings and our vision have grown — expanding from an early emphasis on regional history to a global perspective and complementing a focus on traditional academic disciplines with the transformative possibilities of interdisciplinarity. Today the Rubenstein Library holds more than 350,000 rare books and 10,000 manuscript collections. These materials introduce new perspectives, challenge preconceptions and provide a tangible connection to our shared past. Our collections are meant to be shared. The Rubenstein Library is open to everyone — students, scholars, independent researchers and members of the general public. Undergraduate and graduate classes meet regularly in the Rubenstein Library, giving students the opportunity to hold history in their hands and to test what they are learning about the past. Researchers from around the world travel to Duke to see materials held nowhere else, some supported by our [research fellowship programs](https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/grants-and-fellowships). Through our lectures, exhibitions, performances, screenings and symposia we invite the public to engage with our collections and with each other. In addition, we are committed to increasing access to our collections through digitization, and we were early innovators in this area. Our [digital collections](https://repository.duke.edu/dc) receive more than 2 million visits every year from researchers both near and far.