Borchert Map Library collections

The John R. Borchert Map Library is one of the premier map libraries in the country. Choose one of the links below or click an area on the map for information about our collections.

Map Library Collections

Map of the map library collections
Map Library Layout

Minnesota Collection

Plat maps, topographic maps, books, atlases, place name guides, county highway maps, traffic maps, and thematic maps of Minnesota.

Automated Cartographic Information Center

GIS data and electronic maps and atlases for various parts of the world, including Minnesota, foreign electronic map data, route-finding software, and educational data or examples associated with geography and GIS texts.

Books and atlases

Atlases and thematic atlases for all areas of the world, official national atlases, state atlases, GIS related books and more

Flat folios

Oversized atlases and thematic atlases for all areas of the world, official national atlases, state atlases, and more. PLEASE NOTE: These items do not circulate

Foreign topographic maps

Topographic sets for most countries in various scales

Gazetteers and place name guides

Gazetteers, place name guides, basic cartographic and geographic glossaries and dictionaries

General reference

High-use non-Minnesota atlases, current and historic state atlases, current world atlases and thematic atlases

Periodicals

Cartographic and GIS journals

Thematic maps

Non-Minnesota thematic maps, city maps for the United States and the world

USGS maps

Non-Minnesota U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic series in all scales

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Minnesota Collection

Map of the map library Minnesota collections
Minnesota Collection Layout

Aerial photography

Coverage for the State of Minnesota from the late 1930s to date in paper, negative, 35mm slide and digital formats

Books and atlases

Books, atlases and reference materials for Minnesota, including soil surveys, street atlases, place name guides and more.

County highway maps

County highway maps for all Minnesota counties. Sporadic coverage for most counties dating back to 1936.

Flat folios

Oversized books, atlases and reference materials for Minnesota, including whole-state atlases, Boundary Waters maps and more.

Plat books and atlases

Maps displaying property boundary and ownership information for Minnesota counties.

Thematic maps

Early maps of the territory and state; selected official state, county and city publications.

Topographic maps  

U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps at various scales for the entire state.

Traffic volume maps

Maps displaying annual average daily traffic (AADT) and heavy commercial average daily traffic (HCADT) throughout the state. Collection includes historic Traffic Volume maps dating back to 1941 for some counties. Select maps dating back to 1999 are available online from MN/DOT.

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Aerial Photograph Collection

Map of the map library aerial photograph collections
Aerial Photograph Collection Layout

Aerial maps

Full coverage for the State of Minnesota for 1968-69 and 1977-79, partial coverage for 1975-76; maps are blueline aerial photos at a scale of 1:24,000; indexes located in the first drawer of each set

Aerial photos by county

Coverage for the State of Minnesota from the late 1930s to date; photos are primarily 9" x 9" black & white prints and are filed by county, then by year

Half-section photos of Hennepin County suburbs

Detailed photos of Hennepin County suburbs dated variously between 1949 and 1967; arranged by suburb name

High altitude photos

Less detailed photos; coverage for the State of Minnesota for 1949-53 and 1968-69

Metropolitan area photo enlargements

Large photos of the seven-county metro area; photo dates range from 1958 to 1997; indexes located in the first drawer of each set or on top of the cases

Negatives

Large rolls of film negatives; may be viewed using equipment in the Map Library; currently no way to make copies from the negatives

USGS statewide photos

Sporadic statewide coverage from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

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