Some of the rarest material in the library collection today, such as a set of documentary photographs of Mexico and Central America taken by Alfred P. Maudslay in the 1880s, was acquired under their direction.

After Stewart Culin died, the trustees acquired his archives and personal library of nearly 7,000 titles, focused primarily on the arts and culture of the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

During his travels to Egypt, Wilbour visited temples and tombs and copied inscriptions found on monuments in the field.

Wilbour's personal library was enriched with scholarly annotations containing corrections and additions to the published text which are of value today as they offer unique information.

In 1916, Wilbour's children offered his antiquities and library collection to the Brooklyn Museum as a memorial to their father.

Textual and visual materials are available to support users in understanding the museum's object collections as well as its history and programs.

[11] In the spring of 1942, the Brooklyn Museum Libraries sent a questionnaire to seventy-five designers requesting biographical information along with sketches of their work.

The artists attended Parisian shows to record the work of more than 170 designers including Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Poiret, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, and Worth.

In addition to other projects, they have collaborated to build an integrated library system, known as Arcade.,[14] to provide better access to their respective collections.