The systematic collection of Slavic materials began at both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University at the end of the 1950s. Almost from the beginning the two Universities have been building their collections cooperatively, creating a strong pool of resources for research and the instructional needs of both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University as well as for other educational institutions in North Carolina and the southeastern United States. Early cooperation enabled the institutions to build substantial collections with strengths in particular areas without overextending institutional resources.
A large portion of the collections in Soviet and Russian studies is duplicated at both universities. However, UNC-Chapel Hill's strengths are in Russian history and literature particularly of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Duke University collects comprehensively in Soviet and contemporary Russian history and economics, and is also responsible for collecting Polish imprints, while UNC-Chapel Hill is responsible for Czech and Slovak materials. Nevertheless, UNC-Chapel Hill has a very good collection of Polish materials. Similar arrangements used to exist with the University of Virginia library regarding South Slavic materials, which had allowed UNC-Chapel Hill to build a good collection of South Slavic literature and linguistics.
Faculty and students have full access to the collections at both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke. Current agreements between the two universities include direct borrowing privileges (which cover undergraduates as well as graduate students and faculty) and expedited document delivery services.
General and specialized instructions is provided to all levels of students and faculty at both universities. The Slavic Bibliographer at Duke and Curator at UNC- Chapel Hill also provide customized instruction to UNC and Duke patrons and to visitors from Russia and Eastern Europe.
