The 1891 Charter of Incorporation for Rice University provided for the establishment and maintenance in the City of Houston of a Public Library. This library was founded in 1913 with a beginning collection of fewer than 200 volumes. Today, Fondren Library is a modern research library with over 2 million volumes, 2.8 million microforms, and 14,300 current serials and periodicals. The library is also a selective depository for U.S. and Texas government publications and for U.S. patents and trademarks.

Fondren, an invaluable resource to the university, is also regularly used by the citizens of Houston. In 2000-2001, approximately 600,000 people visited the library; the average number of patrons from outside Rice per day was about 40 percent. The library’s holdings are broad, reflecting the various interests of the university community.

Fondren Library’s Woodson Research Center is the repository for the archives of Rice University and for Fondren Library's collections of rare books and manuscript collections. Although these materials do not circulate, any researcher may use them in the Woodson Reading Room (an overall description of special collections is online).

Particular subject specialties in the over 30,000 rare books include English drama, history of science, Texana, and the history of aeronautics. All of these books appear in LIBRIS, Fondren's online catalog.

The 400+ manuscript holdings are strong in Texas history, politics, and entrepreneurship; Civil War history; science; and 20th-century literary authors with Rice connections. Also included are the papers of numerous faculty members and alumni with achievements in the humanities and social sciences, science and technology, and the arts. Manuscript collections are also listed in LIBRIS.

The Rice University Archives collects and maintains many types of material related to the history of Rice, including textual documents (such as presidents' papers and records of student organization), Rice historical photographs, architectural plans and drawings, university and faculty publications, newspaper clippings, AV material, and memorabilia.

The Woodson's email address is woodson@sparta.rice.edu.

For more information about Fondren Library, visit the library's website at http://www.rice.edu/Fondren/.