[3][4] Despite its physical location in Egypt, the American University of Cairo is accredited[5] in the United States by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (formerly a part of MSA); the School of Libraries and Learning Technologies therefore implements US standards and practices in all aspects of its work.

[8] By 1922, three years after its founding, AUC had a small reading room as part of the School of Oriental Studies at the Tahrir Campus.

Their chief areas of interest - Islamic art and architecture, Egyptology, and travel literature - make up the core of the Library's collections.

Among the library's rare book holdings are the monumental Description de l'Égypte and multiple volumes of the lithographs of artist David Roberts' paintings of Egypt and the Levant.

In the mid-1990s, the library began to acquire collections of personal papers, like those of Egypt’s leading 20th century architect Hassan Fathy.

From that time the library made steady acquisitions of archival resources documenting the artistic, cultural, intellectual, political, and social life of modern Egypt.

Photography, including numerous images of the architecture and landscape of Egypt dating to the late 19th century, represents another core holdings area.

The University Archives document the AUC’s history, mission, and activities, through materials in a variety of formats, dating to the early 20th century.

In subsequent years the library acquired the collections of other leading Egyptian architects like Hassan Fathy,[22] Ramses Wissa Wassef, Sayed Karim, Ahmad Hamid, and Gamal Bakry.

The Center supports advanced scholarly research by building on strengths of the outstanding existing collections in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies.