Textbooks

The textbook collection includes U.S. imprints of primary and secondary schoolbooks, textbooks for post-high school non-degree schools such as business and trade schools, and foreign language grammars and readers through college level. The publication dates range from the 18th century, although most holdings were published in the 20th century. This collection was formed by deposits from member libraries and is maintained through retrospective deposits. There are 70,000 volumes in the collection occupying 8,000 linear feet of shelf space.

All subjects commonly taught in U.S. primary and secondary schools are represented. The most extensive holdings are in English studies and mathematics; there are substantial holdings in the social sciences, health, science, and foreign languages. Individual titles are not cataloged, but are arranged on the shelf by subject. Within each subject category, the textbooks are shelved alphabetically by author, series title, or publisher, depending on the work. The Center retains all editions, teacher's manuals, tests, workbooks, and laboratory manuals.

The art or science of cultivating the ground, the production of crops and livestock; farming.
Temporal Coverage:
1850-1970
Piece Count:
486
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Agriculture
    • Agribusiness
    • Agricultural Instruction and Techniques
    • Dairy Science
    • Farm Economics
    • Farm Management
    • Farm Mechanics
    • Forestry
    • Livestock
    • Pest Prevention and Control
    • Poultry
    • Rural Life
    • Soil Conservation
    • Specific Crops (i.e. Cotton, Grains, Vegetables)
  • Regional Agriculture:
  • South, West, etc.
The quality, production, or expression, according to aesthetic principles of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
Temporal Coverage:
1840-1990
Piece Count:
376
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Art
    • Art History
    • Artistic Method
    • Instruction (General or Combined Arts)
    • Perspective
    • Readings in Art
  • Techniques
    • Instruction Within a Specific Art (i.e. Drawing, Painting, etc.)
    • Commercial Art
    • Crafts
    • Film Making
    • Graphic Arts
    • Textile Arts
  • Architecture
  • Still Photography
The science which treats the celestial bodies; their magnitudes, motions, constitution, etc.
Temporal Coverage:
1810-1970
Piece Count:
235
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Space Exploration
  • Space Navigation
  • Study of Planets
  • Study of Space
  • Study of Stars, Constellations, Comets, Asteroids, etc.
  • Study of the Universe
  • Surveying and Navigation
  • Use of Telescope
The art or practice of operating heavier-than-air aircraft. Of or pertaining to soldiers, arms or war; according to the methods and customs of war or of armies.
Temporal Coverage:
1940-1950
Piece Count:
89
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Air Navigation
  • Airplane Mathematics
  • Airplane Mechanics
  • Aviation Readers
  • Aviation Science
  • High School ROTC
The science of life; the branch of knowledge which treats living organisms.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1970
Piece Count:
241
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Anatomy
  • Bionics
  • Dissection
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Laboratory Manuals for Biology
  • Life Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Microscope Use
  • Physical Anthropology – Development of Man
  • Physical Structure of Living Things
  • Physiology
  • Study of Species
The science of life; the branch of knowledge which treats living organisms.
Temporal Coverage:
1840-1990
Piece Count:
899
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Anatomy
  • Bionics
  • Dissection
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Laboratory Manuals for Biology
  • Life Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Microscope Use
  • Physical Anthropology – Development of Man
  • Physical Structure of Living Things
  • Physiology
  • Study of Species
The science of plants; biology dealing with plant life.
Temporal Coverage:
1800-1960
Piece Count:
368
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Classification
  • Ecology of Plant Life
  • Laboratory Manuals for Botany
  • Plants and Plant Life
Mercantile pursuit of transactions; trade; commerce. A commercial or industrial enterprise.
Temporal Coverage:
1840-1970
Piece Count:
2618
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Business
    • Basic Business Practice
    • Business Law
    • Clerical Skills
    • Collective Bargaining/Unions
    • Consumer Studies
    • Filing and Record Control
    • Industry and Commerce
    • Labor Management
    • Management Skills
    • Manufacturing
    • Office Machines
    • Office Practice
    • Record Keeping
    • Retailing
    • Sales and Marketing
    • Secretarial Practice
  • Mathematics and Accounting
    • Accounting
    • Bookkeeping
    • Business Mathematics
    • Computer for Business
    • Data Processing
    • Statistics
  • Business English
    • Correspondence
    • Penmanship
    • Spelling
    • Writing
  • Typing
  • Shorthand and Dictation
A profession or other calling demanding special preparation and undertaken as a lifework.
Temporal Coverage:
1910-1980
Piece Count:
328
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Career Planning
  • How to Study/Self Help Educational
  • Preparation for Admission to College
  • Specific Careers Described
  • Types of Careers Available
The science that treats the composition of substances and of the transformations which they undergo. Chemical composition, properties, or processes.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1990
Piece Count:
1238
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Applied Chemistry
  • General Chemistry
  • Laboratory Manuals for Chemistry
  • Practical Chemistry
That department of political science dealing with rights of citizenship and duties of citizens.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
1455
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Civics:
    • American Citizenship
    • American Government
    • Constitutional Studies
    • Law
    • Political History
    • Political Structure
    • Political Theory
    • United Nations
  • U.S. Local Government Studies:
    • By State: Alabama – Wyom
The use, understanding, or language of computers.
Temporal Coverage:
1960-1970
Piece Count:
14
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Computer Language
  • Design
  • Instruction in Use of Computers
More than one broad subject area within the same work (such as English/Mathematics).
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1980
Piece Count:
233
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Adult Remedial
  • Combination of Disciplines
  • Head Start
  • Pre-School
  • Special Education
A High School level course offering instruction in the driving of an automobile.
Temporal Coverage:
1910-1980
Piece Count:
66
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Automobile Construction
  • Basic Automobile Mechanics
  • Instruction in Driving
  • Safety in Driving
The science that investigates the conditions and laws affecting the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
662
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Commerce
  • Economic History
  • Economic Theory
  • Political Economic Theory
  • Political Economy
  • Readings in Economics
  • Trade Practices
  • U.S. Economy
  • World Economics Studies
Of, or belonging to the English Language. Use of the language of, or for, writing.
Temporal Coverage:
1790-1990
Piece Count:
10482
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General English
    • Basic "A,B,Cs"
    • Combination: Writing/Spelling/Grammatical Skills
    • Composition
    • Creative Writing
    • English Instruction for Non-English Speaking Students
    • Handbooks for Writing
    • Language Arts
    • Linguistics as Pertains to the English Language
    • Penmanship
    • Remedial English Language Skills
    • Special Composition: Drama, Poetry, Research Papers
    • Workbooks for Writing
  • English Grammar
    • Specific Instruction in English Language Grammatical Usage
  • English Spelling
    • English Language Dictionaries and Vocabularies: School Editions Only
    • Phonics for Spelling
    • Works Solely on Spelling
Use of the English Language for reading.
Temporal Coverage:
1800-1980
Piece Count:
10510
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Reading
    • Instruction in Reading
    • "Learn to Read"
    • Phonics for Reading
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Reading Instruction for Non-English Speaking Students
    • Remedial Reading
    • Workbooks for Reading
  • English Readers
    • Materials for the Practice of Reading
    • Phonetic Readers
The body of words and methods of combining words used and understood by a considerable community; a tongue. …also the words themselves in their grammatical relationships.
Temporal Coverage:
1730-1990
Piece Count:
9059
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Language Instruction
    • Composition
    • Dictionaries
    • Grammar
    • Language Lab.
    • Specific Language Instruction
  • Reading the Language
    • Compendiums
    • Lexicons
    • Literature: Anthologies
    • Literature: Classical Authors
    • Readers: Fictional, Historical, Cultural, Political, Artistic
    • Source Books
Observation and classification of facts especially with the establishment of verifiable general laws…especially such knowledge when it relates to the physical world – called also natural science.
Temporal Coverage:
1810-1980
Piece Count:
3007
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Experimental Method
  • General Science Readers
  • General Studies in Science and the Natural World
  • History of Science
  • Natural Science
  • Physical Science
  • Scientific Method
The science of the earth and its life especially the description of the land, sea, air and the distribution of plant and animal life including man and his industries. The general features, collectively of an area.
Temporal Coverage:
1780-1980
Piece Count:
2046
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Geography:
    • Economic Geography
    • Geographical Readers
    • Mapmaking and Surveying
    • Maps and National Boundaries
    • Natural Features of the Earth
  • Atlas
  • Regional Geography
    • U.S. Local: (by state)
    • Africa; Asia; Australia; Eastern Europe; Western Europe; North South, and Latin America
The science that treats the history of the earth and its life especially as recorded in rocks.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
340
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Geology
    • Formation and Structure of the Earth
    • Fossils
    • Mining
    • Natural Phenomenon as related to Geology: Earthquakes, Glaciers, Oceans, Volcanoes)
    • Oil
    • Physical Structure of Earth
    • Rocks and Minerals
  • Meteorology
  • Regional Geology
    • U.S. Local by State
The state of being sound in body, mind and soul.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
1819
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse
  • Etiquette/Deportment
  • Mental Health/Adolescent Development
  • Moral and Ethical Development
  • Personal Hygiene and Grooming
  • Personal Safety
    • Bicycles
    • Fire
  • Physiology
  • Red Cross Guides
  • Sex Education
For the U.S.A.: a narrative of events. A systematic account of events. The branch of knowledge which records and explains past events.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
2392
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General American History:
    • Exploration
    • Colonization
    • Revolutionary War
    • Statehood
    • Constitution
    • War of 1812
    • Civil War and Abolition
    • Westward Expansion
    • Spanish American War
    • 20th Century
    • Cultural History
    • Ethnic and Native American
    • Historical Atlases
    • Historiography
    • History of Political Thought (U.S.)
    • Industrial History
    • Military
  • U.S. Local Historical Studies:
    • By State
For lands outside of the U.S.A.: a narrative of events. A systematic account of events. The branch of knowledge which records and explains past events.
Temporal Coverage:
1790-1980
Piece Count:
2008
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Classical World
  • Medieval
  • Renaissance
  • Modern Europe
  • Great Britain
  • Constitutional History
  • Cultural History
  • Genealogy: Monarchies
  • Historical Atlases
  • Historiography
  • History of Political Thought
  • Industrial History
  • Military
The science and art dealing with homemaking; especially the selection and preparation of food and clothing, conditions of living, the use of income, the care and training of children.
Temporal Coverage:
1890-1980
Piece Count:
633
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Child Care
  • Cooking
  • Family Finances
  • Food and Nutrition
  • Home Furnishing
  • Hospitality
  • Household Economics
  • Household Management
  • Interior Design
  • Personal Finance/Consumerism
  • Sewing and Needle Arts
  • Textiles and Clothing
  • Women’s Studies
Engaged in industries; especially in the manual labor of industries.
Temporal Coverage:
1870-1980
Piece Count:
730
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Amateur Radio
  • Construction
  • Draftsmanship/Blueprint
  • General Shop
  • Graphic Arts
  • Home Repair
  • Mechanical Drawing
  • Metalworking
  • Plastics
  • Power/Electricity
  • Practical Electricity
  • Tool and Dye
The business of managing, editing, or writing for journals, newspapers, radio, or television.
Temporal Coverage:
1880-1980
Piece Count:
97
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Print
    • Editing
    • General Instructional
    • News Photography
    • Newspaper Business
    • Reporting
    • School Newspaper
  • Radio
  • Television
The use or management of an institution in the custody, circulation, or administration of a collection of books, manuscripts, etc., kept for use but not for sale.
Temporal Coverage:
1910-1970
Piece Count:
53
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Bookbinding
  • Libraries in General
  • Library Use Instruction
  • Preservation
  • Research Techniques
  • Theory of Libraries
The study of human speech including the origin, structure and modification of language, or languages.
Temporal Coverage:
1850-1980
Piece Count:
90
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Comparison of Languages
  • History of Language
  • History or Development of Specific Languages
  • Modification of Language
  • Semantics
  • Structure of Language
Literary productions as a collective body; as the total of preserved writings belonging to a given language or people. The part which is notable for literary form or expression.
Temporal Coverage:
1830-1980
Piece Count:
3984
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Anthologies
    • Drama
    • Fiction
    • General Introductory
    • History of Literature
    • Literary Analysis
    • Literary Criticism
    • Poetry
    • Short Stories
    • Survey
  • Classical Works
    • Collective of a Given Author
    • Compendiums
    • Single Works of a Given Author
  • Divided into the following categories:
    • American
    • English
    • World
The systematic treatment magnitude, relationships between figures and forms, and relations between quantities expressed symbolically.
Temporal Coverage:
1810-1980
Piece Count:
8315
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Mathematics
    • Arithmetic
    • Computer Mathematics
    • History of Mathematics
    • Logic (relating to mathematics)
    • Numbers/Primers
    • Probability and Statistics
    • Remedial Mathematics
    • Workbooks
  • Algebra
    • Logarithmic Tables
  • Calculus
  • Geometry
    • Analytic
    • Plane
  • Trigonometry
The art of sound in time which expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1980
Piece Count:
1603
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Music
    • General Musical Instruction
    • History of Music
    • Musical Arrangement
    • Musical Composition
    • Musical Theory
    • Reading Music
  • Singing
    • Chorus
    • Songbooks
    • Vocal Training
  • Techniques
    • Band
    • Specific Instrument Instruction
A body of myths, as that of a particular people, or that relating to a particular person.
Temporal Coverage:
1850-1960
Piece Count:
39
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Astrology
  • Historical Mythology
    • Celtic
    • Druid
    • Etruscan
    • Germanic
    • Greek
    • Roman
    • Scandinavian
Systematic instruction in sports and exercise.
Temporal Coverage:
1880-1970
Piece Count:
36
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Dance
  • Games and Activities
  • Instruction for Specific Sports
  • Physical Conditioning
  • Sports: Rules and Regulations
The science that deals with matter and energy in terms of motion and force.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1980
Piece Count:
1058
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Atomic Structure
  • Electricity
  • General Physics
  • Gravity
  • Heat
  • Laboratory Manuals for Physics
  • Light
  • Magnetic Force
  • Mechanics
  • Natural Philosophy
  • Sound
The science of the mind or of mental states and processes.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1970
Piece Count:
131
Grade Levels:
secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General Psychology
  • Human Behavior
  • Logic as Applies to Reasoning
  • Mental Health
The service and adoration of God or a god as expressed in forms of worship. One of the systems of faith and worship. The profession or practice of religious beliefs; religious observances collectively; rites.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1970
Piece Count:
73
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Bible History
  • Bible Instruction
  • Bible Interpretation
  • History of (a specific) Religion
  • Religious Instruction
The science or study of the origin, development, organization and functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of social relations, institutions, etc.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1980
Piece Count:
3232
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • General
    • Anthropology (Cultural)
    • Cultural Studies
    • Current Events
    • Demographics
    • History of Culture and Society
    • Social Interaction
    • Sociology
    • Study of Mankind in Society
  • Regional Studies
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Eastern Europe
    • Western Europe
    • North America
    • South America
    • Latin America
Act or manner of speaking; communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words. A formal public discourse; oration; address. A composition in prose or verse portraying life or character by means of dialogue and action designed for theatrical performance; a play.
Temporal Coverage:
1800-1980
Piece Count:
1053
Grade Levels:
elementary, middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Speech
    • Communication
    • Elocution
    • Oratory
    • Readings for Oratory
    • Rhetoric
    • Speech Pathology
    • (Voice) Training for Public Speaking
  • Debate
    • Instruction in Debating
    • Parliamentary Procedure
    • Subject Guides for Debate
  • Drama
    • Dramatic Production
    • History of Drama
    • How to Act
    • One Act Plays
    • Plays for School Use or Production
The science or branch of Biology dealing with animals.
Temporal Coverage:
1820-1970
Piece Count:
188
Grade Levels:
middle, secondary
Topics covered in the collection:
  • Animal Anatomy
  • Animal Life
  • Entomology
  • Laboratory Manuals for Zoology
  • Pet Care