 The library's rare book room, a climate-controlled vault being renovated in 2013-2014, contains books written before 1600, and many more recent items such as John Paul Jones' calling card collection from when he was with the Russian navy, and documents captured on German submarine "U-505" when Daniel V. Gallery boarded it in 1944.Another item is Captain John Smith’s treatise on the duties of sailing men, called "An Accidence or Path-way to Experience" (1626), a precursor to "The Bluejacket's Manual".Additional highlights of the collection include Thomas Truxtun's "Instructions, Signals and Explanations..." (1797), the U.S. Navy's first signal book; rare Civil War materials from the Union Navy and Confederate Navy; and Germany Navy war diaries.