Special Collections

The Burlington County Library System's collection of 370,053 titles, 979,905 volumes, and 1,088 periodical subscriptions includes special collections which assist customers with specific information or format needs.

The Adult Literacy Collection includes books, audio-cassette with book kits, and video materials which provide informational and recreational materials for adult and young adult beginning readers.

The New Jersey Collection contains 14,198 materials of local, county and state interest. Many of the items are available for borrowing. In this collection you will find

• Books and videos on New Jersey and Burlington County, local community histories, politics, education, social services, ecology, natural history, travel and many other topics.
• New Jersey government documents, periodicals and published statistics on various topics in book, periodical and pamphlet form.
• Genealogy collection including family histories, church records, birth, death and marriage indexes, cemetery transcriptions, telephone books, family files.
• Hazardous waste documentation for various sites in Burlington County, including Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base.
• Genealogy and New Jersey periodicals and newsletters, including Genealogical magazine of New Jersey, New Jersey History, Evertons Family History Magazine, Genealogical Helper and more.
• Atlases and maps for Burlington County, New Jersey and the United States.
• Burlington County and New Jersey vertical files containing articles, brochures, maps and more.
• The library subscribes to AncestryPlus, the largest online genealogical resource in the world. Although parts of this service are available at no charge over the internet, you will find the material available in the library is complete, containing U.S. Federal Census images, military records and images, vital records indexes, church records, immigration and naturalization records, court, land and probate records, the Social Security Death Index, newspaper obituary indexes, and much more.
• Heritage Quest online subscription will provide the information needed to get you started on your family search. Heritage Quest provides access to over 25,000 family and local history books. All books are full-text and keyword-searchable. It also includes digital images of U.S. Federal Census Records from 1790 to 1930, including census indexes for 1870, 1900 and 1910. Access: Headquarters Library only. Library Genealogy Guide

The Business Collection
The Burlington County Library Headquarters Business Center and library branches offer access to thousands of dollars worth of information to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, business managers, investors, career changers and job seekers. Our offerings include:

• An extensive collection of sample business plans to use when developing or updating your plan.
• A searchable direct marketing database that identifies consumer and business to business mailing lists tailored to your marketing campaign.
• The Foundation Center’s database of nonprofit grant and funding opportunities.
• Marketing references with consumer demographic and buying trends.
• Online files of industry analyses and company profiles.
• Searchable full text access to business and trade magazines to keep you up to date on news and developments in your markets and industry.
• Investment aids for mutual funds, stocks and bonds, including Standard and Poor Stock and Bond Reports, Morningstar, and Value Line
• Reference USA: Search and download contact information for:
  • 12 million US businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies
  • 120 million US households
  • 650,000 physicians and dentists
  • 1.3 million Canadian businesses
  • 12 million Canadian households

Know your library – it’s good for business! Visit our branches or the headquarters library Business Center. For more help:

• Click on the BCLS Business Gateway
  The Burlington County Library System’s business gateway is your online entrée to what’s available free to library cardholders. Also, see the gateway for links to key community and government web sites of interest to entrepreneurs. Here you will find links to the best library resources, plus vetted Internet web sites, to help you in all aspects of starting and running your business. We have made a special effort to bring to your attention local resources that you might not otherwise hear about. And, there is a special section geared toward nonprofit organizations. You can also learn here about library programs and other services created to help you succeed!
• Subscribe to Biz Currents – Library News for Business People
  Biz Currents is the library’s e-mail newsletter especially for the Burlington County business community to stay current on resources, tools and trends. Send email to Joan Divor to subscribe.

The Large Print Collection
This collection consists of more than 15,099 books of general interest. The majority of the titles are fiction, but also included are a sizable number of non-fiction, including biographies. Large print books are indicated in the computer catalog by the call number prefix "SS" for Sight Savers. In addition they can be found in the computer catalog under the special subject heading "Large Type Books" or "Large Print Books." Many customers who find regular text hard to read are also enjoying the library's collections of audio books on cassette or Compact Disc.

Non-Print Media

DVD/Video Collection
This collection, including more than 20,000 videocassettes and 10,500 digital video discs (DVDs), is one of the most popular in the library. DVDs are of the popular entertainment variety, but are increasingly available in the same range of interests as other formats, to fill entertainment, informational and educational needs. The emphasis is on classics, award nominees and recipients, and quality children's materials, as well as instructional and documentary films.

The visually and hearing impaired will also find descriptive and closed-caption videos and DVDs in the library's collection. The sound tracks in the descriptive videos format have been modified with short descriptions of the action, scenery, costumes and facial expressions inserted in breaks in the dialogue. These descriptives operate on regular TVs, VCRs and DVD players enabling hearing or visually impaired customers to enjoy a film with their family and friends. Closed caption videos require a decoder. Due to the ability to change how viewers see the screen, DVDs are an excellent format for the visually impaired.

All videos and DVDs may be borrowed for 1 week and may be renewed for 1 week if no one else is waiting.

Audio Collection: Cassettes and Compact Discs
The audio cassette collection of more than 13,201 titles includes music, classic and contemporary fiction, instructional and other non-fiction materials. Fiction and non-fiction titles are added constantly providing listeners with a wide range of materials including best sellers on tape. Popular foreign language instruction materials are available on tape and in compact disc (CD) format. The CD collection, somewhat smaller at 9,229 titles, features a variety of music for almost every taste as well as books on CD, many of them unabridged. Up to 5 cassettes and CDs may be borrowed at a time for a two week loan period.

CD-ROM
The Burlington County Library has a circulating CD-ROM collection of more than 1,448 titles that includes a variety of instructional, informative and creative CD-ROMs for all ages. Learn a language or tour the Louvre, create a landscaping plan or follow the Oregon Trail! CD-ROMs may be checked out for one week and may be renewed.