The collection focus includes the arts, architecture, design, information science and allied fields.

Holdings include 200,000 printed volumes, over 600 periodicals, rare books, digital images resources including Pratt Institute specific Digital Image Collection, and the Institute's archives.

[3] Originally called the Pratt Institute Free Library, it was open to anyone who lived or worked in Brooklyn.

The North Porch was added in the 1930s by architect John Mead Howells.

[9] Renovations in the early 1980s by architects Giorgio Cavaglieri and Warren Gran included the removal of the Children's Porch to another building on campus, an underground extension including additional stacks, study areas, and classroom with an outdoor mall above, and the addition of a climate-control system.