The Drama Library began in 1925 when the Department of Drama (later the School of Drama) was founded under the leadership of George Pierce Baker. The Drama Library was located in the University Theatre building at 222 York Street until 2008, when it joined the collections housed down the street in the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library. The Drama Collection serves the Yale theater community, including the graduate School of Drama, its professional counterpart the Yale Repertory Theatre, the undergraduate Theater Studies program, Yale Cabaret, the Yale Dramat, and various other performing groups.

Drama-related collections onsite in the Arts Library currently include approximately 20,000 volumes, including thousands of playscripts, books on the history of theater, theater architecture, dramaturgy, dramatic criticism, costume and stage design, stage lighting and production, theater management, biographies, and related reference books and journals. Another 20,000 volumes are housed at the Library Shelving Facility (LSF) and may be requested via Orbis for weekday delivery to any Eli Express location within 24 hours. Thousands more books and journals on theater as literature, history, theory, and criticism of theater, as well as additional playscripts, are held in Sterling Memorial Library. Archival records and unique materials are held in Arts Library Special Collections, Manuscripts and Archives, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Search for these non-circulating materials in Archives at Yale.

The Play's the Thing: 50 Years of Yale Repertory Theatre (2018 online exhibition)

History of Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre

Ensemble @ Yale Project: Help create a database of Yale's theater history!

Q. Are there photos of productions available?
A. Yes, in Yale University Library Digital Collections and in Manuscripts and Archives, in the Yale School of Drama Photographs and Posters collection.

Q. Are there videos of productions available?
A. Manuscripts and Archives holds some audio and video in the Yale School of Drama Audio-Visual Recordings collection. These may only be viewed or listened to onsite in the library.