THE AGS LIBRARY

Global Connections

THE AGS LIBRARY

The AGS Library is one of North America’s foremost geography and map collections. Formerly the library and map collection of the American Geographical Society (AGS) of New York, it was transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries in 1978 following a nationwide selection process by the Society. The Society was formed in the early 1850's to promote the collection and diffusion of geographical and statistical information and to establish and maintain a library with a collection of maps, charts and instruments. By 1870, this library was already recognized as the “largest and most valuable” of its type in the United States. Later, at the conclusion of World War I, the United States Government centered the preliminary work of its delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, President Wilson’s famous “Inquiry,” at the Society’s headquarters so as to be able to draw on its unique resources.

Through the years, the collections expanded in response to the Society’s research activities and through donations from its members. As an outgrowth of its early interest in the unexplored regions of the world and its leadership role in the development of modern academic geography and large-scale continental and world wide mapping programs, the Society acquired tens of thousands of items to meet its own needs and made them available to a public in need of geographical information.

Today, this tradition of world-class geographic information support continues in UWM’s Libraries, while the AGS in New York actively sponsors programs, publications and events in the field of geographic research, education, and national policy.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in June 2005 announced a major bequest to the American Geographical Society Library by Robert and Suzanna McColl.

To enter the AGS Lbrary, click on: AGS Library.

Follow the links below for some of the outstanding resources available at the AGS Library:

Afghanistan: Images from the Harrison Forman Collection

Transportation Around the World: 1911-1993.

AGSL Photo Collection.

AGSL Cartography Collection.