The Watkinson Library serves as a public research library, the rare book library and special collections of the Trinity College Library, and the repository of the Trinity College archives. It is located on the main floor (A Level) of the Raether Library and Information Technology Center.

The mission of the Watkinson Library is to collect, preserve, and make accessible unique and rare materials of enduring research value while engaging the public and the Trinity community to use these collections. The Watkinson is devoted to nurturing creativity, diversity, and inclusion through preservation and access to cultural heritage materials.

The Watkinson contains over 175,000 printed volumes ranging in date from the fifteenth century to the present; 4,000 linear feet of manuscript and archival material; 25,000 pieces of sheet music (1720-1950); over 5,000 sound recordings; and thousands of pieces of ephemera (postcards, greeting cards, trade cards, ballad sheets, prints, maps, playbills, posters, and broadsides).

Watkinson's Reading Room hours: We are open by appointment. Please email us at [email protected] to schedule your visit.