ZMO’s library, founded in 1992, is a specialist academic library tailored to the centre’s research interests. Accordingly, it focuses on the acquisition of new historical, ethnological, and political publications related to countries in the Middle East, Africa, Eurasia, and South and Southeast Asia. In addition to a new collection of around 40,000 titles, the catalogue contains an old collection of bequests, donations, and permanent loans, including items from the library of the GDR’s Academy of Sciences (AdW) and private collections from the Islamic scholar Fritz Steppat, the Middle East historian Gerhard Höpp, the Indologist Horst Krüger, the Africa historian Jürgen Herzog, and the Central Asia historian Reinhard Eisener.
ZMO's special collection comprises research materials related to the history of the institute, including the transition from the AdW (East Berlin) to the current body. It contains unique archival material on African and Asian countries, as well as documents that crucially attest to the history of sciences in Germany before and after reunification.