Library Collections

The library includes more than 20,000 volumes, 400 journal titles, 138 current journal subscriptions, 2,750 cataloged reprints, and more than 1,160 Mote Technical Reports.  The collection reflects the research interests of the Laboratory: coastal, shelf and estuarine ecology, coral reef physiology, fisheries, finfish mariculture, aquaculture, elasmobranch biology and biomedical research, fates and effects of toxins in the marine environment, marine mammals of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, sea turtles and nautical archaeology.

Mote Marine Laboratory Main Collection - Comprises 20,000 book, document, video, CD, and journal titles on marine and environmental topics. This collection also includes the historical publications of the laboratory.  Link to the library catalog: Athena.

Mote Technical Report Collection - Includes 1,400 cataloged records of the technical reports produced by the Mote staff since the mid 1970s. More than 300 technical reports are available full-text online at:   
Mote Publications.

Reprint Collection – Contains the bibliographic records of 3,550 environmental articles, including the Mote staff contributions.

Bass Biological Laboratory Collection - 1930s and '40s-era papers, correspondence, photographs, maps and research data from am Englewood, Fla. research laboratory.  These historical environmental and socio-economic materials are being digitized and added to Mote's institutional repository, DSpace.

James E. Woods, PhD Collection -  DePaul University professor and Mote Laboratory research associate.  Includes biomedical books and journals with a speciality in endocrine and chick research.  Search for titles in this collection in the library catalog, Athena.

Pauline S. Becker Collection – Floridiana books collected by one of Mote Marine Library’s most ardent volunteers and supporters. Books focus on Florida history, nature, ecology, folklore and more.  Search for titles in this collection in the library catalog, Athena.

Perry Gilbert Collection – A collection of papers, letters, documents and photographs that provide an insider's view of the Perry Gilbert Era here at Mote Marine Laboratory. Eminent shark scholar and Mote Marine Laboratory director from 1967-1978, Gilbert guided the facility into prominence.

Mina Walther Collection – Comprises the research books of Mina Walther, biology teacher and nature writer.  Ms. Walther wrote the column Tide Lines for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune from 1977-2003.  A posthumous collection of her articles has been published by the Mote Library.  The book, Nature is Wonderful, is available for purchase from the Mote gift shop.

Herman Gross Collection - Herman Gross’s donation of more than 30,000 underwater slides is housed in the Mote library. This extensive collection includes color images of corals and thousands of other species of undersea life from all over the world. Mote staff are in the process of digitizing and cataloging these images. View a sampling here.