As a central depository for material concerning the history of Methodism in general and (in cooperation with the General Commission on Archives and History) the United Methodist Church and its predecessor bodies in particular, and as a supporting resource for the work of the Theological School, the graduate programs in religion, the College of Liberal Arts, and the United Methodist denomination, the Methodist Library seeks actively to collect and make available the following materials

The Wesleys

• Original primary works of John and Charles Wesley and their associates in 18th-century Methodism (multiple printings collected within budgetary constraints)
• Reprints and scholarly editions of such works
• Secondary works dealing with the Wesleys and early Methodism

American Methodism

• Original primary works of American Methodist theologians, historians, church leaders, popular and devotional writers up to the present day
• Complete sets of all Methodist and Methodist-predecessor-related periodicals, serials, and Disciplines
• Official children's and adult educational curriculum of the United Methodist Church and its predecessor bodies
• Secondary works on American Methodist history and on related issues: women's rights, temperance, abolition, revivalism, politics, liturgy and sacramental theology

Record copies

• The Methodist Library is required by the United Methodist Discipline to keep one copy of every book published by the United Methodist Publishing House and its trade imprint, Abingdon Press.

African-American Methodism

• Original primary works of African-American Methodist theologians, historians, church leaders, popular and devotional writers up to the present day
• Complete sets (where possible; material often scarce and expensive) of periodicals, serials, and Disciplines of the AME, AME Zion, and CME churches
• Secondary works on African-American religious history

World Methodism and Missions

• Conference journals and a selection of magazines from past and present Methodist bodies (both United Methodist Central Conferences and autonomous Methodist Churches), with a particular concern for post-Wesley British Methodism and ethnic Methodism
• Journals and periodicals of Methodist-related mission organizations
• Monographs on mission
• Selected secondary works

Holiness and Pentecostal movements

• Original primary works of pre-1920's holiness and Pentecostal authors, focusing on those connected directly with Methodism or writing anti-Methodist polemic
• Core library of periodicals, serials, Disciplines and manuals of white and African-American holiness churches which emanated directly from Methodism and which were closely related in early development
• Denominational histories of such bodies and of the National Holiness association and regional holiness associations
• Secondary works on holiness and Pentecostal churches, particularly history, doctrine and culture before 1920

Women and Religion
As included in above, as well as:

• Complete sets of all periodicals and serials of the women's organizations within UM and predecessor Methodist bodies
• Primary and secondary works of and about women in ministry, particularly in holiness and Pentecostal settings

Liturgical Studies

• As included in above, with particular attention to primary British and Methodist works on sacraments and liturgy, and secondary works (historical and theological) on worldwide Methodist sacramental theology and liturgical order
• Secondary works in ritual studies, sociology, and cultural studies where appropriate