Notable strengths in the Museum Library's collections include:
- biological and physical anthropology
- history, method, and theory of cultural and social anthropology
- linguistics in the Americas
- Native American studies
- Mayan studies
- archaeology of prehistoric Americas, Egypt, and Near East.
Penn Libraries collects to the post-graduate research level in these areas. Currently, other areas of strong collecting in support of curricula and research at Penn include archaeology of Asia and the Mediterranean, ethnographies in rural and urban communities around the world, linguistics, ethnographic art, folklore, ethnomusicology, dance, medical and public health anthropology, business anthropology, cultural heritage studies, and scientific and technological applications to anthropology, archaeology, and museum practices.