Libraries, Collections & Archives
Drexel University Libraries
The Drexel University Libraries provide access to information, resources, and services that inspire curiosity, enable discovery, and empower all members of the University community to be information-literate, global citizens.
Drexel’s main library, the W.W. Hagerty Library, is located in the heart of University City and offers spaces and technology that foster learning and a sense of community in an inclusive, welcoming environment.
The Libraries’ collections include over 1.6 million print and online resources, including books, journals, newspapers, and other media that have been carefully selected to support Drexel’s multidisciplinary curriculum and research needs.
Learn more about the Drexel University Libraries.
Other libraries at Drexel:
- Thomas R. Kline School of Law Legal Research Center
- Library & Archives of the Academy of Natural Sciences
Collections & Archives
Drexel is the steward of multiple special collections, encompassing tens of thousands of items -- art objects, historic costume, artifacts, archival material -- and millions of natural scientific specimens.
Professional staff work to preserve and share the University's collections -- with a focus on making these primary source materials and cultural resources accessible to the Drexel community (along with the public) for teaching and learning.
Beginning with Drexel’s founding 1891, this collection offers more than 6,000 works, with a particular focus on 19th-century European art. You can find these historical paintings, prints, porcelain, furniture, silver, and clocks on display in galleries, exhibits, and buildings across the University.
One of the oldest, most esteemed of its type in the United States, this collection houses more than 14,000 textiles, garments, and accessories, ranging from Renaissance textiles to French couture and contemporary fashion.
Drexel is the steward of the collection of the former Philadelphia History Museum -- over 130,000 artifacts, works of art, photographs, and archival materials reflecting 350 years of Philadelphia and American history.
One of the largest surveys of Soviet-era Polish posters within an institution in the United States. This collection offers an exceptional glimpse into mid-century graphic design.
The Archives cares for records of enduring value related to the University’s history -- from administrative offices, academic departments, student groups, and papers of faculty, staff, and alumni/ae, as well as records about Anthony J. Drexel and his family.
Special collections on the history of women in medicine, women's health, and homeopathic medicine, stemming from legacy schools including Hahnemann Medical College and Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first degree-granting medical school for women in the world. Archival collections documenting the history of the health sciences at Drexel.
The Audio Archives is home to the historic Sigma Sound Studios Collection, with over 7,000 audiotapes from a wide variety of influential artists, including the Studio’s signature R&B recordings.
In 2011, Drexel formed an affiliation with The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, with a superb natural history library and over 19 million specimens in its collections.
This gallery of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design exhibits novel and experimental art in all contemporary media, including digital, video, sculpture, photography, graphics, and fashion design.
