Welcome to PPL Special Collections ArchivesSpace
Thanks to a century and a half of collecting and the kindness of donors the library is home to more than 10,000 linear feet of historic books, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, maps and other artifacts representing more than 4,000 years of human history and culture from around the world. We believe that those artifacts can enrich anyone’s life and our mission is to make sure everyone has a chance to access them.
Visit our website for more information about making an appointment and to register as a researcher.
How to find our materials:
- Manuscripts, ephemera, and visual materials: This site is the starting point for finding these materials. We are currently transitioning from hosting finding aids on our website, so while that process is underway it is necessary to search both sites.
- Books: Special Collections has a specialized sub-catalog for our collections (note that approximately half of our book collection is not yet cataloged online, so contact us if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for): researchprovlib.aspendiscovery.org
- Digitized material: Approximately 25,000 items from our collections, particularly Rhode Island photographs, have been digitized and are available at: provlibdigital.org