Library Mission

The mission of the Ernst Mayr Library is to preserve and provide information resources and services to support the research and teaching activities of the Harvard University community, especially the science community. The Library is committed to being a leading resource in the fields of natural history, zoology, paleontology, biodiversity and comparative biology, evolution and ecology, and strongly supports molecular biology, cell biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, genetics and bioinformatics.

The Library serves all members of the Harvard University community. In particular, the Library serves the undergraduate population of Harvard, graduate students, staff and faculty of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB), and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) as well as members of the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Additionally, the Library is a resource for scholars conducting research in the fields of natural history and zoology. The general public may also use the Library with restrictions.

The Library contains a vast collection of monographs and journals acquired since 1861 in many areas of natural history and zoology. The website for the Library exists as an introduction and guide to the Library for those who may not have easy physical access to it, as well as a gateway to other information sources in natural history and the zoological sciences.

Since 2006, the Ernst Mayr Library has been providing primary library services for the Biolabs collections.

All of the content for this site was written by members of the Ernst Mayr Library Staff.