The library's collection focuses on anthropology, earth sciences, health sciences, space sciences, zoology, the Rocky Mountain West, and museum studies. It contains over 53,000 publications, including over 2,000 children's books, 2,500 rare books, and 9,000 volumes of scientific periodicals.

Search our library catalog. Search our archival holdings at the Rocky Mountain Online Archive.

Image Archives is the official storehouse for the Museum's 700,000 images. These photographic collections provide insight into a world in transition.  By preserving and making these images available, Image Archives provides a valuable resource not only within the local community -- but also nationally and globally.

Browse our image archives.

In addition to over 150 books on dinosaurs, the children's collection includes a great selection of books on all the Museum's areas of interest: anthropology, zoology, geology, paleontology, space sciences, and health sciences. Bailey Library is a great place to find information for school projects.

FOR MEMBERS
Museum members may check out books with their membership card. In addition to adult books in Museum areas of interest, there are 2,000 children's books, which are great resources for school projects.

FOR VOLUNTEERS
The library provides background materials for temporary exhibitions, reference materials for research projects, and training videos for various departments. Volunteers may check books out with their volunteer badge.

FOR MUSEUM STAFF
The library supports Museum research, exhibits, and education with technical books, scientific journals, and electronic resources. Staff may check out materials with their employee badge.

FOR MUSEUM VISITORS
Museum visitors who have a library card from a Colorado public library may check out books. Museum books can be returned to any public library in Colorado. Access to the Bailey Library is included in Museum admission. Researchers who wish to use the Bailey Library may call ahead for an appointment.

INTERLIBRARY LOANS
The Museum loans books to patrons of other libraries worldwide through the OCLC system, which makes the library's unique resources widely available.

All of the library's rare books are included in the online catalog. Highlights include:

• Copies of all Museum publications from 1915 to the present
• Accounts of all three of James Cook's voyages, published 1773-1784
• History of the Indian Tribes of North America, published in 1838
• Early surveys of the West, published 1867-1890

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has an active research program and authors a variety of publications. These include the Annals (formerly known as the Proceedings), Technical Reports and curator publications.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals is an open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original papers in the fields of anthropology, geology, paleontology, botany, zoology, space and planetary sciences, and health sciences. Papers are either authored by Museum staff, associates, or volunteers, deal with Museum specimens or holdings, or have a regional focus on the Rocky Mountains/Great Plains ecoregions.

Paper copies are exchanged with our institutional partners via the Bailey Library Exchange Program, contact Mary Cytrynbaum at [email protected]. Paper copies can be purchased from  www.lulu.com. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science owns the copyright of the works published in the Annals, which are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of published material contact Kris Haglund in the Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives at [email protected]. The Author Guidelines and the Annals Copyright Transfer may be downloaded by clicking the links.

• Maxson, R. E., Colwell-Chanthaphonh, C., and Lomayestewa, L. W., Lost in Translation: Rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and Museum Language Systems, Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals, No. 2, April 15, 2011, 139 pp. ISSN 1948-9293 (print), ISSN 1948-9307 (online) Click to download (PDF | 6.5MB)
• Woodburne, M. O., Gunnel, G. F., and Stucky, R. K., Land Mammal Faunas of North America Rise and Fall During the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals, No. 1, September 1, 2009, 78pp. ISSN 1948-9293 (print), ISSN 1948-9307 (online) Click to download low resolution verison (PDF | 1.5MB) Click to download high resolution version (PDF | 5.5MB)

Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Natural History

Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Natural History published between 1915 and 2002. Click here to view the full list and PDFs of published Proceedings.

Technical Reports

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Technical Report series captures the work by Research and Collections Division authors that may not be published otherwise. The full list of Technical Reports may be viewed by clicking here. Select reports are available for download.