The Library’s Special Collections department is open to the public and offering personalized research appointments.
To get one-on-one research help from a librarian: Click on the button below, select Special Collections Research Appointment, and schedule your time. We can even pull materials for you in advance! Just provide us with your research topic(s) along with your request. Research appointments are booked in 1-hour blocks.
We’ll see you then!
Discover the rich cultural influence of African Americans living in Northeast Florida. Through books, pamphlets, photographs, newspapers, documents, microforms, and multimedia, the African-American Collection brings to life the historical, social, civic, religious, economic and cultural life of African-Americans.
It all started with the gift of an antique map from his son. After that, local attorney Lewis Ansbacher collected historical maps for years to come. The Lewis Ansbacher Map Collection features more than 240 antiquarian maps from around the world, in addition to historical views and plates focusing on North Florida.
The prodigious British composer Frederick Delius began his musical career on the St. Johns River when he traveled from England to Jacksonville to learn how to cultivate oranges for his businessman father. Away from the disapproving eye of his family, Delius secretly studied musical theory and composition. One of the composer's early and more popular works, Florida Suite, was inspired by the life and sounds found on his plantation.
Go beyond the wall with our Digital Collections where access to unique, rare, and fragile materials is right at your fingertips. By digitizing selected materials the citizens of Jacksonville and individuals throughout the world have unlimited access to books and other materials restricted because of their scarcity and fragile nature.
Curious about the 1901 fire that destroyed downtown? Want to find out the name of the first motion picture studio opened in Jacksonville? Ever wonder about the namesakes of our many bridges?
Florida's history comes to life at the Main Library, where you'll find thousands of books and pamphlets, photographs, postcards, periodicals, microfilm, and documents, some dating back to the 1600s.
This collection contains over 130,000 vertical files. Vertical file materials were collected and organized by the Times-Union staff and include periodical clippings & photocopies, brochures, pamphlets, photographs, and news releases used as source material for subject and biographical data in developing news items that appeared in the Times-Union newspaper. The collection also includes over 1 million original photos and negatives.
The Genealogy Collection houses material relating to Florida and the southeastern United States, with a growing body of material on the Mid-Atlantic states and reference materials for the original 13 colonies.
Resources for both the novice and the expert family history researcher are gathered in one place with specially trained library staff ready to help you in your research.
Looking for information on economics, geography, history or horticulture?
All branches of government publish information on a wide range of topics in a variety of formats. The Jacksonville Public Library is a selective depository of the Federal Depository Library Program. Many of the materials released by the U.S. Government Publishing Office are housed in our Government Documents Collection.
The Holocaust Collection is a selection of resources documenting one of the most horrific events in human history. The collection ctalogues the history, events and aftermath of the Holocaust through books, recordings, films and other materials, including eyewitness accounts from 16 local Holocaust survivors. Testimonials are available on DVD.
Located in the Grand Reading Room, the Holocaust Collection is made possible in partnership with Remembering for the Future Community Holocaust Initiative.
The Ansbacher Map Collection has a sub-collection of the Le Moyne-De Bry engravings located in the Jordan & Shirley Ansbacher Gallery in the Special Collections department.
