Archives Library

The Moravian Archives holds a library of circa 20,000 volumes. We have 12 incunabula. We are in the process of cataloging the library and currently around 10,000 titles can be searched through our online catalog.

The Moravian Archives contributes to WorldCat, an online worldwide catalog of books. Our library code is MOARC. Almost 10,000 titles from the Archives' library are already part of WorldCat.

Click here to search our library catalog online (WebOPAC). Please note that our holdings are not fully cataloged yet.

The library of the Moravian Archives includes the following categories:

• Moravian topics

The emphasis in our book collection is the history of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) in its context. We try to acquire all publications relating to the Moravians.

• General topics: "congregational library"

As early as 1751 the Bethlehem congregation organized a Gemeinbibliothek. This "congregational library" contained books on various topics that were useful in building a community in colonial America. Throughout the years many books were added to the collection by members of the congregation. In the second half of the 19th century the Gemeinbibliothek was officially named Library of the Congregation of United Brethren in the Borough of Bethlehem and its Vicinity.

In 2010-11 the books from the Congregational Libary were cataloged by staff and students from Lehigh University, thanks to a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. This collaborative grant made it possible to reconstruct one of the oldest communal libraries in the United States.

The books from this collection are all labeled "CongLib."

• Malin Collection

This spectacular collection, officially called "The Malin Library of Moravian Literature," was brought together by the 19th century Philadelphia librarian William Gunn Malin (1801-1887). Malin was a devoted collector of books on the Moravian Church and related subjects. He donated his collection to the Moravian Church in 1882.