Housed in historic Piper Hall, the WLA maintains an archive in the basement and a reading room on the third floor.

The Women and Leadership Archives serves a wide variety of users including students, scholars, and the general public.

Collection strengths include the subject areas of activism and women's issues; authors; education; environmental issues; public service; social justice; women religious; and the fine, performance, band visual arts.

Geographically, the WLA prioritizes collecting first within Chicago, its suburbs, and Illinois; second within the Great Lakes region (Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin); and third within the United States.

[3] The Women and Leadership Archives store the records of many different individuals and organizations from the Chicago area.