The Alfredo F. Tadiar Library assembles materials focused on the social and cultural history, literature and arts, and natural environments of Northern Philippine communities, with relevant materials in the humanities and social sciences, and natural sciences.

 

Core areas of the holdings include Ilocano literature, law, and history, scholarly work on the communities of the Ilocos, Cordillera, and Cagayan Valley; women, religious and ethnic minorities, and marginalized sectors; natural history of Northern Philippines; local arts and architecture, migration and diaspora studies of Northern Philippine communities abroad.

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The Library houses Special collections that include private papers, rare books, literary and historical manuscripts, maps, drawings, photographs and music.

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As part of its general collections, the Library also maintains holdings in Filipiniana and Philippine Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, and Asian Studies, to serve as comparative, historical contexts for its special collections.