In operation since 1999, the Vine Deloria, Jr. Library of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is the 20th library of the Smithsonian Libraries and is located in Suitland, MD in the Cultural Resources Center (CRC) where it shares research and collection space with the NMAI Archives.
The Deloria Library research materials include over 40,000 volumes of books, periodicals, microfilm, and media in the main collection; a small, but growing rare book section; Native American Artist Files; and, ephemera. The Library collections cover the broad range of topics and disciplines related to the histories, cultures, arts, and contemporary issues of Native American and Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere. Strengths in the collection are tribal histories, biographies, traditional and modern art, language and literature – including children and young adult materials, Native knowledge, and collections care. Because Native Studies is interdisciplinary by nature, there is overlap of coverage in other Smithsonian libraries, so research could include materials from other libraries.