The Library is considered a reference institution in South America and has the largest collection of texts on international relations in Brazil, containing a vast array of volumes on topics such as international law, history of Brazilian foreign policy, geography and political science.

The building now houses the Escritório de Representação do MRE (Representative Office of the MRE), the Museu Histórico e Diplomático (the Historical and Diplomatic Museum), the Arquivo Histórico (Historical Archives), a Biblioteca Histórica e a Mapoteca Histórica do Itamaraty (Historical Library and Historical Map Collection of Itamatary), as well as the Centro de História e Documentação Diplomática (CHDD) (Center for History and Diplomatic Documentation) - the institute is located at Avenida Marechal Floriano, 196 in Centro, inside the Palácio Itamaraty, and can becontacted viaTelephone on (21) 2233 2079.