General Research Division

Limited service 7-9 pm - no materials retrieved from closed stacks

Marked by its stunning physical spaces and by the depth and variety of its collections, The General Research Division is the Research Libraries’ largest and busiest department, as well as its principal repository for material in the humanities and social sciences. Contact us!

The Division welcomes hundreds of visitors each day, including scholars, writers, students, general readers, tourists, and those who might simply be looking for the answer to a nagging question.To satisfy the needs of this diverse population, the Division collects and provides a broad spectrum of subjects, with a particular emphasis on history and literature.

Along with authoritative and scholarly holdings in academic areas, many popular, idiosyncratic, and ephemeral materials such as genre fiction, comic books, pamphlets, and menus have over the years been acquired.

The physical layout of the General Research Division, which is centrally located in Room 315, consists of two integrated elements: the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room and the Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room.

Rose Main Reading Room

The Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room is a majestic public space, measuring seventy-eight feet by two hundred and ninety-seven feet—roughly the length of two city blocks—and weaving together Old World architectural elegance with modern technology. The award-wining restoration of this room was completed in 1998, thanks to a fifteen million-dollar gift from Library trustee Sandra Priest Rose and Frederick Phineas Rose, who renamed the room in honor of their children.

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Catalog Room

The Bill Blass Public Catalog Room, generally considered the gateway to the Division’s remarkable collections, was renamed in 1994 to recognize a generous gift from the fashion designer who was also a Library trustee and longtime benefactor.

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