There are so many different kinds of libraries across our profession, it is always interesting to hear about new ones. One of those is the American Geographical Society Library, at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee!
“The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), one of the premier collections of its kind in North America, contains over 1.3 million items supporting instruction, research and outreach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and around the world.
The collection contains maps, atlases, books periodicals, film media and digital data files. Its scope is worldwide with coverage from the 15th century to the present. Its resources have been used to produce an ongoing series of digital collections, including an award winning website on Afghanistan, a comprehensive site on world transportation and collections featuring unique photographic documentation of such places as Tibet, the Republic of Georgia, Korea and World War II Poland. The AGSL offers scholarly programs for the campus and local community throughout the year and welcomes visiting scholars from across the US and the world.”
- The AGS Library contains over 520,000 maps of all types covering the world at a wide range of scales
- many items that are extremely rare and valuable
- over 11,000 atlases ranging from 15th Century editions of Ptolemy’s Geographia to the most modern compilations in paper or digital format
- over 135 globes, most on permanent display
- over 300 maps, including a large assortment transferred from the UW-Milwaukee Department of Geography in 2005
- nearly 584,000 photographs and slides