Die Bibliothek sammelt Literatur in den Bereichen Mathematik, Physik, Materialwissenschaft, Chemie, Biologie und Kognitionswissenschaft. Der Bestand umfasst überwiegend Monografien, Proceedingsbände werden nur bei besonderer Bedeutung der Konferenz erworben.

The SpringerLink platform provides MPG staff with access to a huge collection of English and German eBooks from 2005 onwards, as well as the English and the German collection of the Springer Book Archive (1842-2004). In addition, the content of selected book series is available. Includes major reference works and dictionaries. Max Planck researchers who publish a monograph or edited volume with Springer Nature as an Open Access eBook receive a discount on the standard Book Publishing Charge. MPDL covers the costs remaining on a pro rata basis. Further details are available on the MPDL website.

The German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) ‒ Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library is a central specialised library, responsible for operating the German National Library for technology, architecture, chemistry, information technology, mathematics and physics as well as the University Library for Leibniz Universität Hannover. As the world's largest specialised library in its fields, the library has excellent collections of technical and scientific specialist and research information.