The Museum's Virginia Shaw Rockwell Research Library contains more than 8,000 volumes in ten languages, 200 shelf feet of glass subject files and a glass-related philatelic collection (postage stamps!) of more than 600 items. Virginia Rockwell was a dedicated glass scholar and early supporter of the Museum whose books and papers form the nucleus of the library collection. Another important component is represented by the files of the late Mrs. Warren P. Tingley, a noted collector and authority on American historical glass. A third component is widely known to Mt. Washington glass collectors as The Shirley Papers. This extensive collection of Mt. Washington documents, a gift to the Museum from the granddaughter of company agent Frederick S. Shirley, includes original glass patents, trade catalogs, correspondence, photographs, the medal awarded to the company at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and even letters sent to the company in 1886 by U.S. President Grover Cleveland and Queen Victoria.
