The commission's library holds works on the archaeology and ancient art history of regions outside Europe and the Mediterranean. The collection's broad diversity is centred on the four continents of Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and Asia, in particular East and Central Asia as well as South and Southeast Asia.
An important collection on the archaeology of the Andes, China, India, and Sri Lanka has developed since the library's foundation in 1979 and continues to grow, whilst supplemented by a well-referenced stock on Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture.
Another focus is on theoretical archaeology and on a number of neighbouring scholarly disciplines.  Varying topics of global interest are represented in more detail, as they reflect the library's flexibility in its evolution parallel to the current research projects of the KAAK. Topics, such as water management, salt extraction, long-distance and maritime trade and colonialism are worth mentioning in this respect.
 

The library holds about 56,000 volumes and 1,135 journals (of which 230 continuously purchased).  The stacks arrange according to region and subject matter and spread over two reading rooms on the ground floor and basement as well as an open-access area in the basement.
In addition to the traditional supply of printed media, researchers have access to numerous e-books and e-journals via the DAI's general ZENON catalogue. 
The library has a capacity of 10 workstations and 2 PCs with internet access for purposes of research and downloading. WLAN is furthermore available on request.