The European Reading Room is the primary point of contact for researchers interested in materials from and about Croatia. The Reading Room maintains a collection of several hundred reference books for Croatia, with general encyclopedias, subject encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, language dictionaries, travel guides, bibliographies, census data, and other reference materials. In addition, older reference materials of interest may be held in the reference collection for former Yugoslavia.

Also available in the European Reading Room are most of the Croatian newspapers on microfilm, issues of unbound periodicals and print newspapers from Croatia, a World War II partisan ephemera collection, and a pamphlet collection containing over 100 items from former Yugoslavia. In the European Reading Room cage a number of unique materials are kept on hand due to the need for displays. Cage materials include a special issue of Globus commemorating the papal visit to Croatia in September 1994, a late 19th century Dubrovnik edition of Smailagić Meho from the Hattala Library, and the 1861 volume of Dnevnik Sabora trojedne kraljevine Dalmacije, Hrvatske i Slavonije [Proceedings of the Parliament of the Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia], a parliamentary session notable for seeking Hungarian recognition of Croatia’s independence and historical borders, including Dalmatia. All cage materials are available upon request at the European Reading Room reference desk. Several special items available in the European Reading Room are described below, many of which are related to World War II..