The Bancroft Library is the primary special collections library at the University of California. One of the largest and most heavily used libraries in the US, the Bancroft’s holdings include more than 600,000 volumes, 60,000,000 manuscript items, 8,000,000 photographs/pictorial materials, 43,000 microforms and 23,000 maps. How do you empty such a building, remodel it, and then replace the whole collection safely and without loss?

The Missouri Botanical Garden Library was founded in 1859 by St. Louis businessman Henry Shaw. It is one of the finest botanical libraries in the world, used locally—in conjunction with the herbarium—by horticulturists, students, landscapers and Garden members. Globally, it is used by historians, biographers and (most importantly) botanists, as part of their daunting mission: to identify and catalog every plant in the world.

The Internet Archive is building and preserving a digital library of books, audio, video, Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, it offers free entry to researchers, historians, scholars, and general public alike. Its stated mission is to provide Universal Access to all Human Knowledge. How does this mission get put into practice? Who is involved? What challenges lie in it path? That’s the story of this episode.

The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts. Its Research Library with special collections of rare materials and digital resources serves an international community of scholars and the interested public. How does a research library find an identity when it is partnered with a museum as well-known as the J. Paul Getty Museum, and a world-class Conservation Institute?

London School of Economics LibraryOver three dozen world leaders have attended LSE, solidifying its reputation as the premier institution of learning for economists and political science. At the heart of the LSE is its outstanding library which, itself, is taking a leadership role in defining our Digital Information Age.

Lila Acheson Wallace Library at the Julliard SchoolHow does a library support the mission of the world’s premier academy for the performing arts? Multi-media collections are essential, but the Library provides much more, as through its outstanding manuscript collection and online resources.

Frick Art Reference LibraryHelen Clay Frick was the richest woman in America when her father, industrialist Henry Clay Frick died. What did she do with her fortune? She established one of the most important special libraries and set about documenting Western Art. Among other things, her library became crucial in repatriating works of art stolen by the Nazis in WWII.

The Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton University began as a modest collection of children's books assembled from purchases made at used-book stores by Jo Anne and Lloyd Cotsen to read to their children. Eventually, Lloyd expanded the collection until it became one of the most extensive libraries of international illustrated children's literature in the world. Pledged to his alma mater in 1994, the Cotsen Children's Library is housed in Princeton's Firestone Library and draws visitors and scholars from around the world. It welcomes toddlers and their parents, too!