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Like a traditional library catalog, this will help you find published materials such as books or maps. Learn More.

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Finding Aids are like a table of contents for collections to help you find specific boxes and folders. Learn More

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The website search allows you to search and find content on the website.

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Donate Your Materials

More than 12,000 donors have entrusted the Bentley with their papers, photos, maps, and more.

Two hands holding an open Plat Book full of maps of land ownership in Michigan areas, showcasing a map of Ypsilanti.
A side view of a bookcase inside the Bentley Historical Library's archives, featuring a stack of large books with spines labeled "Ann Arbor Town" from the 1900s.

Preserving Michigan Stories

Every year, hundreds of invaluable donations come to the Library. Bentley archivists work with donors to determine whether their materials align with the Library’s collecting mission, ensuring that these stories are responsibly preserved and accessible for generations to come.

Ready to share?

We can work with you to help assess what you have, consult with you on file formats, and develop a step-by-step plan for donation to the Bentley.

The 1940 School of Dentistry class photo composite, featuring a block "M," oval portrait photos of graduating students, and text that reads: University of Michigan, 1940, School of Dentistry.

University of Michigan

Donate materials related to U-M such as scrapbooks, yearbooks, student group information, and administrative and departmental records.

Donate U-M Records
Main Street in Ann Arbor in 1904, featuring tall buildings with awnings and decorative brickwork, trees, telephone poles, horse-drawn carts on the road, and pedestrians walking on the sidewalks.

State of Michigan

Donate materials related to the State of Michigan, for example papers on political figures, community organizations, and pioneering people.

Contribute State History

Unsure where to start? An archivist can help

Ask an Archivist
Two researchers at a table in the reading room looking at a historical book together. In front of them is a box of similar books, bound in black leather with gilt stamping. In the background are library carts and more tables.

Two researchers looking at a historical book in the reading room.

Oral Histories

The archive isn’t just paper records and digital files, but the stories of individuals from all walks of life—many of which exist only in memories.

To preserve these stories, the Bentley Historical Library maintains an active oral history program. We accept donations of oral history interviews and provide support and training for oral history projects to university classes and units, as well as community groups. We are also equipped to conduct oral history interviews. To learn more, email: [email protected].

A close-up view of typeface letters from U-M's historical book bindery which are used in the Bentley Historical Library's Conservation Lab, including some letters that are very small, and some that are very large, on a beige table.

Typeface from U-M’s old book bindery, one of the many tools used in the Bentley’s conservation lab.

The Conservation Lab

Did you know that the Bentley’s state-of-the-art conservation lab preserves and protects books, maps, drawings, and more?

Expert archivists and conservators utilize advanced techniques on Bentley acquisitions old and new.

Stories Unboxed

Meet the donors whose connection to history has helped others understand the story of what happened, and why it mattered.

A man with dark hair wearing a dark suit jacket stands in front of a cluster of microphones.

Impact Story | July 2, 2026

Manuel Quezon Papers Now Online

by Lara Zielin

The Bentley Historical Library has made the papers of this vitally important Philippine leader available to researchers worldwide.

Learn more
Several old letters and small envelopes arranged on an old wooden desk. The letters have cursive writing that is cramped and hard to read.

Impact Story | October 14, 2025

Campau Papers

by Lara Zielin

A rare and surprising cache of sixty new letters makes its way to the Bentley to supplement an existing collection.

Learn more

Impact Story | August 30, 2025

The Unsinkable Sarah E. Ray

by Lara Zielin

In 1945, Sarah Elizabeth Ray was denied passage on a steamboat on the Detroit River because she was Black. She fought the injustice, and today her trailblazing civil rights role is being preserved — including through a new collection.

Learn more
Read More
The "Historical Circle" statue by Richard Hunt in the Bentley Historical Library's garden courtyard, featuring a welded steel abstract statue of a wavy line connected to a circle that looks like a sundial, with a brick building and large glass windows behind it, a grassy lawn, and leafy tree branches in the upper edge of the photo.

The “Historical Circle” sculpture by Richard Hunt in the Bentley Historical Library’s garden courtyard.

Building a Better Bentley

We welcome donors whose materials build a better Bentley.

The Library hasn’t always been a place where everyone can see themselves. That’s why the Bentley Historical Library is doing the work of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive library. Today, the Bentley strives to collect and provide access to archival records that more fully document the complex histories of the communities it serves. We also hope to engage more in those communities and act as a resource. The library recognizes its interdependence with those who have been historically excluded and who are under-documented in its collections. Read our collecting policy.