The essential focus of the collection is on artists' books and the broader topics of the Book Arts: letterpress printing, fine binding, handpapermaking and paper decoration.

The Jessica R. Gund Memorial Library has collections specifically developed for the visual artist, designer, and craftsperson. The library contains 45,000 books, exhibition catalogs, and CD-ROMs; 145 current periodical subscriptions; over 125,000 art and architecture slides as well as access to a broad range of digital images; 1,600 sound recordings; 600 videotapes, DVDs, and films; a picture file for visual reference; access to online databases and full text resources; and an extensive collection of "artists' books” (books made by artists as art).
Browse the Gund Library's artists' books collection here.
The Institute's collection of artists' books, begun in 1982, is a teaching collection of about 1,300 books representing the range of books made by artists from North America and western Europe.
hese books date from the 1960s to the present, including some "classics" such as Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler... [known as the "Xerox Book"] (1968), Edward Ruscha's Twenty Six Gasoline Stations, Various Small Fires and Milk and Royal Road Test , Daniel Spoerri's Anecdoted Topography of Chance , Ray Johnson's Paper Snake , Vostell and Higgins' Fantastic Architecture , Claes Oldenburg's Store Days , Agnes Denes' Map Projections , Martha Rosler's Service, and Dieter Roth's 246 Little Clouds .

The collection has some unique books and some books made by Institute students. However, most of the books are multiples by well-known artists (including Sol Lewitt, John Baldessari, Kiki Smith, Christian Boltanski, Hanne Darboven, Francesco Clemente, Hamish Fulton, Ida Applebroog, Marcel Broodthaers, and Hans Haacke) as well as less-familiar professional artists who have turned to the book form, or concept, for artistic expression and experimentation.