Special Collections Library

423 Central Ave. NE (corner of Edith and Central
Albuquerque, NM 87102 [locator map]
(505) 848-1376
Email questions to SpecialCollections@cabq.gov

Library Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday- 10 AM -6 PM
Closed on Sundays, Mondays and holidays.

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The Special Collections Library of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System houses research collections on genealogy and New Mexico history and culture. The 1925 Pueblo/Spanish Revival-style building is a registered Albuquerque landmark in the historic Huning-Highlands neighborhood. As a research library, materials are available for in-house use only. Photocopiers are available. Parking is available on Edith and other residential streets, and in the parking garage by Old Albuquerque High School on Arno NE.

What you will find @ Special Collections:

• Exhibits
• Special Events
• Genealogy Collection Highlights
• Genealogical Societies
• New Mexico collection Highlights
• Center for the Book Museum

Exhibits:

Albuquerque: A History in Postcards: View postcards online

 

Exhibit: Three Hundred Years of Albuquerque History
January 29 - September 6, 2008 @ Special Collections Library

The Special Collections Library presents a large compilation of images and documents about life in Albuquerque from its founding in 1706 up to modern times. This exhibit, created to celebrate the city's Tricentennial, was assembled from treasures in the collection of the Center for Southwest Research at U.N.M. Library. Exhibit creator Nancy Brown Martinez has provided the community with a new opportunity to view this remarkable presentation of Albuquerque's history.

 

Aqui Se Comienza, The Origins of Albuquerque in Books and Documents

The exhibit displays all of the books about Albuquerque published during the Tricentennial, featuring the newly-published genealogy of Alburquerque's founding families, "Aqui Se Comienza." Also on display are documents and illustrations about early Albuquerque, loaned to us by the Center for Southwest Research of the University of New Mexico.

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Special Events

 

Wednesday, April 9, 10:30 am – Noon, @ Special Collections Library. Botts Hall
Planning to Write and Writing a Plan
Speaker: Mary Penner
Albuquerque Genealogical Society Meeting

 

Saturday, April 12, 10:30 AM -12:30 PM @ Special Collections Library
Beginner Genealogy Workshop Series: Finding the Right Genealogy Computer Software.  Facilitator Victoria Sullivan will speak on the topic of how to find the right genealogy computer software for your research. Sponsored by the Albuquerque Genealogical Society, the New Mexico Genealogical Society, and the Special Collections Library.

 

Saturday, April 19, 10:30 AM–Noon, Botts Hall
The Making of a Family: the Pecos Years, 1916-1940
Speaker: Jan Bennett
New Mexico Genealogical Society Meeting

 

 

Saturday, May 3, 10:30 AM–Noon, Botts Hall
The Impact of Islam on the Hispanic World
Speaker: Dr. Charles Truxillo
Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico

 

 

Wednesday, May 14, 10:30 AM–Noon, Botts Hall
Women’s History along the Highway
Speaker: Pat French and others from the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative
Albuquerque Genealogical Society Meeting

 

 

Saturday, May 17, 10:30 AM–Noon, Botts Hall
Workshop to Be Announced
New Mexico Genealogical Society Meeting

 

 

 

 

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1. Genealogy Collection Highlights

Home to New Mexico's largest genealogical collection, Special Collections has nearly 22,000 genealogy books, over 16,000 microforms, approximately 2,500 compact discs and almost 300 current periodical titles. The collection is particularly strong in New Mexico genealogy, but the library also holds substantial records and resources from other states. The Library has immigration and ships' passenger lists, the Periodical Resource Index (PERSI), and a large assortment of family genealogies. Donations of individual family histories are welcomed.

Lineage books from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Founders and Patriots, Daughters of American Colonists, the Mayflower Society, and other major resources from the American Colonial and Revolutionary War periods are available.

Federal census records for the entire United States from 1790 through 1930 are available. There are partial censuses for New Mexico from the Spanish and Mexican periods and special censuses for Native Americans of the Southwest, including the Dawes Rolls from Oklahoma.  

Several computers are available for public use. Two library computer terminals provide Internet access using the Library System's SmartCard. Four dedicated genealogy computers feature CD-ROM databases of census records and other valuable resources.  Local volunteers have compiled databases such as indexed vital records in Albuquerque newspapers, 1888-1896; indexed obituaries from the Albuquerque Journal for most years from 1908 to the present, scanned texts of Albuquerque Journal obituaries from 1930 to the present; the New Mexico Death Index from 1899-1945, and a partial statewide cemetery index.

Three important genealogy databases are available only at Special Collections Library with your Library SmartCard: Ancestry Library Edition, Heritage Quest Online and Origins Network Database.

The Library has a comprehensive collection on New Mexico genealogy, including the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, the Mexican Archives of New Mexico, Land Grant Records, and the Territorial Archives on microfilm. Civil War pension records for New Mexico and county records for the Territorial period are also available.  All publications of the New Mexico Genealogical Society are owned, as are the works of Fray Angelico Chavez. The Dreesen files provide information on the original settlers of the Rio Abajo prior to 1900. There are newspapers from the Territorial period, and Albuquerque city directories dating back to the 1880s. A collection of 16th century Spanish passenger lists, Pasajeros a las Indias, is available on microfilm.

The library has a complete collection of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. These records extend as far back as 1678 and as recent as 1956 for some areas. Localresearchers have extracted many of these records and published them in book format.

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New Mexico Collection Highlights

The New Mexico Collection features nine thousand books on New Mexico history and culture, with an emphasis on the Albuquerque area. Supplementary resources include over 200 regional periodicals (current and defunct), a complete set of topographical maps for the state, other historic maps, City of Albuquerque documents, pamphlets, postcards, and biographical information. Special files include archival materials on Ernie Pyle and Professor Dorothy Cline, and a centennial history of the Albuquerque Public Library. Periodic exhibits feature local history materials from our collection and from other sources.

Center for the Book Museum

Special Collections also houses the Center for the Book, a hands-on museum of the history of books, writing and printing. It features working replicas of early printing presses, late-Nineteenth and early-Twentieth Century presses and examples of ancient and modern books, including clay tablets, papyrus, miniature books and illuminated manuscripts. For information about tours, call 848-1376.