The Bahá'í World Centre Library collects five copies of every book or pamphlet published by Bahá'í communities around the world. This is in accordance with the deposit requirements of the Universal House of Justice. In addition copies of audio-visual materials, calendars, diaries and miscellaneous items such as summer school programmes, correspondence courses and greetings cards produced by Bahá'í institutions and committees are also collected.

A major goal of the Library is to acquire a copy of all books mentioning the Bahá'í Faith which are not published under Bahá'í auspices. Such books would include works on comparative religions, travel guides (particularly of Israel and those countries where Bahá'í Houses of Worship are located), historical memoirs of nineteenth century travellers in Persia and the Middle East and novels in which there is a character who is a Bahá'í or where the Faith is mentioned in passing. These books may be in any language although at present most are in the major European languages and Persian.

The purpose of the collection is to develop a research library on the history, teachings and growth of the Faith which will eventually form the International Bahá'í Library. The Library also acquires current reference materials in the form of books, atlases, maps and CD-ROMs for use in the Reference Library and in branch libraries.