The Area Programs Libraries consist of the Near East Division, the Slavic and East European Division, the South Asia Division, and the Southeast Asia Division.  Each division represents the regions, cultures, and languages designated in its name.  As units of the Graduate Library, the divisions manage collections acquired from their geographic areas, in their languages, and on their distinctive subjects; solicit and accept purchase recommendations; catalogue the new acquisitions; provide assistance to library users in the use of the collections; and offer formal instruction in the bibliographic resources of the units' area of expertise.

The University of Michigan Library collects materials in over 400 languages.  Area Programs acquires books,  journals, magazines, newspapers, and other publications in over 50 of these languages.  Together, as represented in MIRLYN, these languages are tabulated in the Language Frequency Count 2007.