Oberlin Conservatory Special Collections

The primary mission of the Oberlin College Library's special collections is to preserve and promote access to historically and artistically significant materials, as well as subject-based collections that support teaching, learning, and individual research within the framework of the undergraduate curriculum of Oberlin College. This mission is carried out in a variety of ways; including generous patron access, collection development, collection description and digitization, individual and class instruction, exhibits, and other forms of pedagogical outreach.

The Conservatory Library's special collections include autographs, rare printed and manuscript music, books and periodicals on music, sound recordings, and a variety of ephemera and iconography – photographs, engravings, paintings, posters, and playbills.