The Art Library is located on the top floor of the Allen Art building, the addition to the Allen Memorial Art Museum designed by the noted architectural firm Venturi and Rauch.

The collection covers all of the visual arts including architecture, painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, photgraphy and the decorative arts, as well as related materials in such fields as anthropology, archeology, landscape architecture, and urban planning. The collection spans all periods (pre-historic through modern) and all nationalities (with special emphasis on Western European, Chinese, Japanese, and American art).