The departmental library has a substantial collection of all major German writers and philosophers from the Middle Ages to the present. All authors on the Ph.D. reading list are represented with their collected works and selected secondary literature. In addition, the departmental library boasts a sizable collection of books on Germanic linguistics, literary theory, cultural theory and intellectual history. We also have sections for Yiddish literature, feminism, and multicultural studies as well as German history and politics, art history and architecture, and cinema. Of course, the library also has the latest reference works, dictionaries, and bibliographies. In addition the departmental library owns a video and dvd collection of all major German films. Periodicals include all journals of American German Studies (German Quarterly, Germanic Review, German Studies Review, Monatshefte, Colloquia Germanica) as well as such periodicals as Merkur, Neue Rundschau, Signs, PMLA, and Representations among others. Among the newspapers and magazines, we carry Die Zeit, Spiegel, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Comfortable chairs and free coffee provide an atmosphere conducive to browsing and reading.