The C.V. Starr East Asian Library can't compare with the Library of Congress or Harvard Yenching Library in the size of its holdings, but since New York is such a cosmopolitan city and the library is open to the public, "we must have the highest lending rate of any East Asian library in the country," according to Marsha Wagner, the head librarian.
而東亞圖書館的藏書，雖比不上國會圖書館及哈佛大學燕京圖書館，但由於紐約是世界之都，國際人士來往頻繁，東亞圖書館又對外開放，「我們的圖書借閱率可以說是全美東亞圖書館中最高的」，東亞圖書館館長魏瑪莎驕傲地指出，地方誌和家譜正是館內收藏的重點類別。