Collection Development Policy

Baylor University Libraries have seven Special Collections housed in four repositories across campus. 

• The Armstrong Browning Library & Museum is dedicated to the study of the lives and works of Victorian poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning and houses the world’s largest collection of Browning material and other fine collections of rare 19th-century books, manuscripts, and works of art.
• The Arts & Special Collections Research Center, housed in Moody Memorial Library, is home to resources and services for research and performance in music, art, theater, and special collections in all disciplines
• The Baylor Collections of Political Materials contain archival resources related to federal, state, and local lawmakers as well as issues and events from the 20th-21st centuries. The BCPM is housed at the W. R. Poage Library and is administered by The Texas Collection.
• The Black Gospel Archive focuses on acquiring, cataloging, preserving, and providing discovery for Black sacred music created, performed, published, and circulated during the mid-20th century.
• The Institute for Oral History, located in Carroll Library, has recorded and preserved oral histories since 1970, earning along the way a strong reputation for multidisciplinary outreach to both academic scholars and community historians by providing professional leadership, educational tools, and research opportunities.
• The Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society receives, maintains, preserves, expands and makes available to scholars the world’s most comprehensive collection of materials on religious persecution under communist and other totalitarian regimes. The Keston Center is also is located in Carroll Library.
• Established in 1923, The Texas Collection and University Archives anchor the Carroll Library and collect, preserve, and provides access to materials documenting the history, heritage, and culture of Texas  and Baylor for the Baylor community and the public.

More information about each collection can be found on the tabs to the left. Locations of the libraries can be found on the campus map. 

Donations from individuals or organizations are the preferred method of acquisition. It should be noted, not all areas are being actively developed, therefore we may not accept all gifts. Collecting priorities are listed by individual repository on the left.

If you feel that you may have materials that are of a rare nature and fit the collection priorities of one of our special collections, please complete the following survey to begin the donation evaluation process: Baylor University Libraries Gift Donation Survey.  

Materials are also purchased through rare book dealers and auctions (by proxy). Funding for such purchases includes gifts and endowment income. 

Each campus repository conducts their own evaluation for materials acquisitions. Potential donors may use the contact information on each collection's tab with further questions. Please include the following to help us determine if the prospective collection aligns with our collecting policy:

• Donor
• Size of Collection, how many boxes/items
• Date range
• Content & Format: what subjects are covered, what types of materials are included. (ex. Correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, programs, etc.)
• Inventory or container list
• Helpful Context