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Books & Collections

Collections

The Library has approximately 50,000 items in print and a growing eBook collection. Select related digital resources are also included below, but be sure to check out our Database A-Z list to see all of the electronic databases available to you.

Collection Description
Business & Economics Books

This collection includes materials in the areas of business, economics, trade, and industry. It includes many popular, contemporary texts related to both domestic and foreign policies and practices, consumer markets, global industries, macroeconomic data, and statistical publications. Related digital resources include EBSCO Research Databases, D&B Hoovers, and ProQuest ABI/Inform.

Department of Commerce Publications

While not a true comprehensive archive, this collection includes publications about the Department of Commerce and published by the Department of Commerce.  Locating older internal reports and publications can be hit or miss, but the Annual Reports of the Secretary, Commerce Business Daily, technical manuals, exporting guides, and other assorted treasures can often fill in gaps in DOC research. 

If you have materials in your office published by or about the Department of Commerce, please consider donating them to the collection to preserve them and keep them accessible for all DOC staff.

Related digital resources include From Lighthouses to Laserbeams:  A History of the US Department of Commerce.

Legal & Legislative Books

This collection contains many books, documents, and multi-volume sets that are not easily found in digital format, including a Serial Set collection spanning the 80th-103rd Congresses, select Commerce-related hearings going back to the 60th Congress, legislative histories compiled by DOC librarians, and various primary and secondary sources relating to the myriad legal and regulatory topics Commerce has dealt with over the years.

Related digital resources include HeinOnlineLexisLegislative Insight, ProQuest Congressional, Westlaw, and BGOV & BLAW on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Print Magazines & Journals

The library subscribes to mostly digital periodicals, including the Harvard Business Review, Barron's, the Kiplinger Letter, Foreign Affairs, the Oil & Gas Journal and more.  If you are looking for a journal or newspaper, contact us to see if it's included in one of our databases.

Related digital resources include the EconomistHeinOnline Law Journal Library, and EBSCO Research Databases.

Professional Development Books

From presentation skills to project management, this collection will help you boost your value and maximize your potential.  Interpersonal relationships and networking, stress management, leadership and management techniques, diversity and women in the workplace, as well as writing and style guides are just a few of the areas represented.  

Several library-curated book lists are also available to help you narrow down your search.

Technology Books

Big Data is becoming a statistician's staple, and this collection will help you improve your coding skills and find your footing in the Data Sciences.  Learn the languages of R and Python, brush up on cyber security, or finally master Microsoft Excel - this growing collection has something for everyone.

Travel Books

A collection of foreign travel guidebooks from Eyewitness, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Bradt, and Frommer's, along with select phrasebooks. 

Can I check out books from the Library?

Yes! 

  • HCHB employees can check out books for three weeks at a time, with renewals available for up to six months (however, the library will recall your book if someone else requests it). 
  • DOC staff outside of HCHB should work with their bureau library to check out books.
  • The general public should work with their local library to request our books.  They can typically access them through a service called Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Need a book that we don't have?  Request it and we'll borrow it from another library or consider purchasing it for the collection.

Interlibrary Loan (Borrowing and Lending Books Between Libraries)

Institutions wishing to borrow materials from the library may do so using OCLC or by contacting the library staff

Couriers should be sent to the Courier Entrance on 15th Street, between Pennsylvania Ave and Constitution Ave, and not directly to the library.