Physical collections

The library has a large collection of literature in languages other than English. The P call number range contains histories of languages, dictionaries, and literature (both in the original language and translations in English).

Browsing

Once you know the call number range for a given language, you can browse in that section for novels, poetry, and other literary works. The spine should give an indication if the work is in the original language or is a translation (but flipping through a book will tell you exactly what language it's in). Major language call number ranges are given below, but see the Library of Congress classification for more complete listings. Within each language, most are sorted so more recent publications have higher call numbers, so if you are looking for recent publications, start at the end of the range.

Searching

You can search the library catalog or Discovery Search for literature in other languages. If you are looking for a known work, start with an author search. You can then limit in either search engine to works in a specific language.

If you are looking for literature in general for a given language, start in the catalog. Use the Advanced Search screen, put an asterisk (*) or a genre term like romance in the keyword search field, limit to item type book, and limit to the language you want. Usually, if a work is in the original language and is not a translation, the main title entry displayed in the search results will be in that language.

Suggestions

If you think a work in a language other than English would make a good addition to our collection, please use our Suggest an item for purchase form.