It is a defining mark of any major academic library to possess an extensive collection of materials in many languages which represent the distinct and special knowledge areas reflected through these languages and the global nature of scholarship. The Boston College Libraries provide a strong example of this and collect widely in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, Greek and Irish. We also have holdings in a number of other languages including Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Dutch, Hebrew, Japanese, Polish, among others. These holdings include books, journals, and newspapers both in print and electronic formats, as well as films and other media.
Multilingual holdings are prominent throughout the humanities collection, especially in the areas of theology, philosophy, literature, and history as well as the social sciences. The Russian collection is especially strong in literature. It’s interesting to note that while many journal and monograph series titles may be in one language, they often contain essays in multiple languages. One notable example is the interdisciplinary collaborative encyclopedic work of scholarship Aufstieg und Untergang der rӧmischen Welt (The Rise and Decline of the Roman World) which contains essays in multiple languages as well as in English.
Also, the foreign language collection is not limited to O’Neill Library but extends across all of the Boston College Libraries. The Bapst Library has holdings in art and art history in many languages, while the Educational Resource Center has a sizable collection of children’s books in Spanish that are perfect not only for children, but also for students developing their language skills. The Special Collections in Burns Library contains many foreign language works including many rare texts in Latin and Spanish within the Jesuitica collection and special materials in the Irish language.
So the next time you want to look at Hegel’s Phänomenologie des Geistes, are searching for the novel Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel Marcia Marquez, or want to read one of the volumes of Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu, take a look at the holdings at Boston College Libraries or speak to the library staff. You’ll most likely be surprised and amazed at what you’ll find. And if by chance we don’t have the foreign language work you are looking for, we can look at adding it to our collection or obtain it for you through Interlibrary Loan.