The IU Libraries system is among the best in the nation. As of 2016 (the last year for which data is available), IU Libraries is the 14th largest public university research library in the U.S., figuring prominently among the select group of 114 private and public institutions forming the prestigious Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Within this group, IU Libraries ranks fifth among Midwestern institutions in relation to library expenditures.

Wells Library

The Latin American collection in the Herman B Wells Library consists of 392,000 monographs and 251 subscriptions. While the whole region is well represented in the library collection, the holdings are particularly strong in materials relating to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the Andean countries, and the Hispanic Caribbean. Modern Central America is a unique area of strength with the Archivo Mesoamericano, an open-access digital collection of historical and ethnographic video content from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Mexico dating from 1970-1999. History, language, literature, anthropology, and folklore are the best represented subjects.

Lilly Library

The world-renowned Lilly Library of rare books and manuscripts holds more than 60,000 imprints and 30,000 manuscripts ranging from the discovery of the Americas through the early nineteenth century. The Bernardo Mendel and Charles Boxer collections, primary sources from Mexico, the Caribbean, the Andes, and Brazil, are uniquely significant.

Museums + Archives

Over 40,000 volumes of official publications, legislation, censuses, and maps, as well as a large collection of microfilm sets, are housed in Government Information, Maps, and Microform Services. Ethnographic collections are preserved in the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, while unique manuscripts, photos, artwork, and artifacts concerning human sexuality are available at the Kinsey Institute. Latin America is well represented among the over 40,000 objects in IU's Eskenazi Museum of Art. Finally, the archive at the Latin American Music Center boasts more than 8,000 items of Latin American popular, traditional, and classical music. The collection is complemented with the unique Latin American recordings in the Archives of Traditional Music.