The Special Collections Department was created at the Iowa State University Library in 1969. Its mission is to identify, select, preserve, create access to, provide reference assistance for, and promote the use of rare and unique research materials that support major research areas of Iowa State University. As of 2011 the Department contains approximately 17,000 linear ft. of archival materials documenting agriculture, natural history, statistics, veterinary medicine, and women in science and engineering. Included are manuscript collections donated by individuals and organizations also reflecting the university's mission. The Department also includes the University Archives, consisting of official records and faculty papers in paper and electronic formats, over 1,000,000 photographs and 10,000 motion picture films. Finally, there are 55,000 rare books dated back to 1475, with strengths in agriculture and the natural sciences.



The Department maintains an active public service, outreach, and tour program to both on and off campus groups, including academic classes, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, the Honors Program, ISU Learning Communities, Extension and 4-H groups, and K-12 student groups participating in National History Day. The Department also creates virtual exhibits for online visitors to its website, as well as exhibits for the Reading Room area and other locations on campus. The Reading Room, located on the 4th floor of Parks Library, overlooks the central campus and researchers and visitors are always welcome. The department is actively digitizing selected priority collections, and making them available through Web 2.0 technologies such as Flickr, YouTube, and iScribd and also through the Iowa Heritage Digital Collections, an online repository of Iowa history.