Special Collections and Archive

Special Collections located in the Elinor Raas Heller Rare Book Room (Rm 115)

The collection of 12,000 volumes and 10,000 manuscripts housed in the Heller Rare Book Room includes printed books from the 15th century to the present, as well as the Mills College Collection. It is also the home of the Mills Center for the Book, a forum for cultural, literary and aesthetic heritage of the book.

• General Information:  Staff, Campus Location, Mailing Address, Email
• Guidelines to the Use of Special Collections
• Descriptions of the Collections: Books, Archives and Manuscripts, Hybrid collections 
• How To Do Research in Special Collections 
• Subject Guide to Collections
• Exhibition Schedule

Collection strengths include:

• the James Collection of Shakespeareana
• an archive of the works of composer Darius Milhaud
• the Parton Collection of books on the history of dance
• the Reinhardt Women's History Collection
• and a collection of contemporary fine press books.

These are study collections that support the curriculum of the College.

Members of the Mills community are encouraged to use the collections for their research

The work of students in the Book Art Program  is also housed in Special Collections.

Other Links of Interest

• Mills College Center for the Book Home Page
• Book Art Program
• Your Old Books  - A helpful guide on rare books and book values.