The material in the Library’s collection of over 100,000 items is composed primarily of works by American and other English-language authors, and features significant holdings in American history and civilization, American literature and literary criticism, American artists, and general aspects of American culture and society. The collection is otherwise described as encyclopedic, spanning many genres, and includes numerous works in translation.

Several hundred fiction and non-fiction eBooks and eAudiobooks are available on the OverDrive platform and Libby app, and new releases are added regularly.

The Library is subscribed to nearly 100 periodical titles (newspapers, magazines, and journals), which are available for consultation and borrowing. These print issues are complemented by online access to hundreds of popular e-magazines via the OverDrive platform and Libby app. Library members can access an additional 2500+ periodical titles from two leading digital databases, JSTOR and EBSCO, which contain full-text articles from scholarly, academic, and popular periodicals.  For title lists and details about accessing these online resources, visit our digital databases page. Or, login directly from our online catalog.

The Library welcomes and encourages suggestions for purchases by Library members. These suggestions are used to help the Library’s staff in developing collections that serve the interest and needs of our members and the community.

Use our online catalog search to find books and periodicals from our collections. Use the drop-down Search menu to search by keyword, author, title, subject, or series. Narrow your search to a specific section, date, or format, using the More Search Options link or the Narrow Your Search filters. To view our alphabetical lists of subject headings, series names, or author entries, use the Browse option under the Search menu. If you are looking for an article from a journal, magazine, or newspaper, please see details of our digital databases and e-sources.

The front of the Library houses New Books, Cookbooks, Graphic Novels, and current periodicals. Art books, including Sports & Recreation (700s) are entirely shelved in the soundproof Florence Gould Reading Room. Fiction, Short Story Anthologies, and Biography are located in the main corridor under the Mezzanine.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Mysteries are located on the Mezzanine. The Non-Fiction collections on the Mezzanine include: Generalia (000s), Philosophy & Psychology (100s), Religion (200s), Social Sciences (300s), Languages & Linguistics (400s), Natural Sciences (500s), and Applied Sciences (600s). The mezzanine classroom houses some of our periodical archives.

Travel Guides & Travelogues are located in the Lower Level Reading Room. Our extensive Literature & Literary Criticism (800s) collection is located in the Lower Level classroom and stacks. The History & Geography (900s) collection and the bulk of our periodical archives are in the Lower Level stacks.

With more than 19,000 items, The American Library in Paris has one of the largest collections of English-language books for young readers in continental Europe. The collections for children and young adults include board books for babies and preschoolers, classic and contemporary picture books, children’s fiction and early chapter books, as well as an extensive non-fiction collection for school-aged children and a diverse young adult collection. The Library carries the entire selection of Caldecott award-winning titles from 1938-present, and all Newbery award winning titles from 1922-present, along with many of the honor books from each of these collections.

Click here to learn more about our children’s collection.

Click here to learn more about our teen collection.