The holdings of the Rubenstein Library range from ancient papyri to records of modern advertising. They number more than 300,000 printed volumes and more than 20 million items in manuscript and archival collections. Principal collecting areas include:

• Advertising, Sales, & Marketing (Hartman Center)
  
• African and African American History and Culture (Franklin Center)
• Documentary Film and Photography
  
• Duke University History (University Archives)
  
• Economics
• German Studies
• Great Britain and British Empire
• Human Rights
• Jazz
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History (See tab for Archival Collections)
• Literature (American)
• Literature (British)
• Medicine
• Music
• Newspapers
• Religious Material: Christianity, Methodism, Judaism and Other Religions
• U.S. Southern History and Culture
  • Civil War
• Utopian Literature
• Women's History and Culture (Bingham Center)
  

Additional Subject Guides

• Comics 
• Greek Manuscripts
• Italian Studies
  • Guido Mazzoni Italian Pamphlet Collection
• Latin American Primary Sources
• Papyri