The Iberian, Latin American, and Latino collections at Brown University Library contain close to 115,000 volumes, of which approximately 350 are active serial titles. The collections also comprise a growing number of electronic resources—both databases and e-journals—, microforms, government documents, audiovisual materials, sound recordings, and sheet music. The annual growth rate of the collections is approximately 2000 volumes, excluding donations.

The collections support Brown University's curriculum and are available to faculty, students, staff, visiting scholars, and other researchers. Most materials are kept at the Rockefeller Library, devoted to the Humanities and Social Sciences. A number of rare and unusual materials are housed at the John Hay Library, the special collections depository. The collections also complement the holdings of the John Carter Brown Library with facsimiles and secondary resources pertaining to the colonial period in Latin America and Iberian exploration.

The collections are of research-level strength in most fields, focusing on Spanish and Latin American literature; Mexican, Cuban, and Brazilian history; Portuguese history and literature; and other materials concerning the Lusophone world.

In 2006, the United States Department of Education designated the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at Brown University as one of 18 Title VI Undergraduate National Resource Centers for Latin American Studies. As a result of this federal grant, and during its four-year cycle, the Library receives funds from CLAS to enrich its collections on the region with a particular emphasis on Brazil and the Caribbean.

Patricia Figueroa is the Curator of Iberian and Latin American Collections at Brown University Library.

---

New: See the Latin American Travelogues digital project.

New: See the library course pages for Iberia and Latin America. To request one, contact the Curator.

---

---

Images
Top left: Original watercolor of an Inca (possibly Manco Capac) found in vol. 2 of Borrones: un recuerdo para la historia del Alto Perú. Undated. Church Collection. John Hay Library.

Right: Albumen print of Aymara indian from Bolivia, possibly by Ricardo Villalba (active 1870s), 10 x 6 cm, undated. Church Collection. John Hay Library.

Bottom: "Tiger-cat of Surinam" from Narrative of a five years' expedition, against the revolted negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772, to 1777 by John Gabriel Stedman. London: J. Johnson, & T. Payne, 1806-13. Church Collection. John Hay Library.