The Special Collections Library holds internationally recognized collections of books, serials, ancient and modern manuscripts, posters, playbills, photographs, pamphlets, artwork, and other materials. Tracing their roots back to one of the earliest Rare Book Rooms in the United States, these collections are the primary basis of research for many scholars, both from the University of Michigan and from around the world.

The Fine Arts Library serves students and faculty in the History of Art Department, the Visual Resources Collection, and supports the teaching, research, and curatorial functions of the University of Michigan Museum of Art and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. The library maintains a collection of print and electronic resources in the history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts. The library contains over 98,000 volumes covering painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic arts, decorative arts, architectural history and photography. The Library also houses the OSR, a reading room of non-circulating East Asian language material on the visual arts.